Master Of Eons
by Zero Dark Thirty
Summary: The little green monster is a horrible thing. Jelousy can have massive consequences, up to and including ripping friends apart. One little impulsive action is all it takes to rend relationships... And out of the ashes, a hero is forged anew. He will stand up and protect those who can not protect themselves. He can save a declining city. His title is the Master of Eons. Altoshipping
1. Chapter 1

**Inspiration** **for this was given by the fanfic "the Altomare Ace" I know it is another story, but I wanted to try my hand in a different fandom, updates for stories will come whenever I have time and inspiration. The name is not set in stone, I am not personally satisfied with it. Recommendations and suggestions are welcome.**

Ash groaned, waking up slowly before he took in his surroundings. He was currently on some king of cold gray surface, with handcuffs on. The container he was in shifted, and he realized he was in a police transport vehicle. He winced as he remembered what had led to this.

(A wild linebreak appeared! Don't worry, flashbacks will explain the past events)

* * *

A red and white eon dragon, invisible, patrolled the sky, watching, waiting. She knew the convoy would pass this way, and she was ready. She knew it would be dangerous. She was ready to risk it all to save Ash. Finally, she spotted it. She gave a loud battle cry as she went into a dive, screaming towards the earth at high speeds. She smirked. Those officers wouldn't know what hit them.

(The author ran away with a smoke ball!)

* * *

They had not meant for this to happen. This had escalated out of control. They never actually wanted a punishment for Ash, they just wanted to split Ash and Latias so they would have a chance. They had testified to his love of Latias in court, and were now responsible for what had happened. May had actually been the one to phone in the anonymous tip that had led to the arrest, but it did not matter. They all felt equally guilty. Drew and Barry were both upset. Not at what had happened to Ash, they did not care about that. What they cared about was Misty and May were completely ignoring them, and were crying over Ash, even after he had been convicted. They were currently watching PBC (pokemon broadcasting channel) because they were bored. That was when a messenger ran on screen and handed the announcer a slip or paper. She read it and her eyes widened. She looked up quickly. "We interrupt this broadcast to bring you some breaking news. It appears that the recently convicted criminal Ash Ketchum has escaped from the convoy conveying him to the jail in Vermillion city. The convoy was attacked by-" Drew toned her voice out as he swore.

"Darn it! All that effort to get rid of him and he escapes! Now what do we do?" He asked, looking at Barry. Barry looked back at him blankly as well.

"How would I know? One thing I do know though." He paused, shaking his head. "We are lucky Ash is not the kind of guy to seek revenge. We better pray that he does not change. Otherwise..." He left the rest of the thought unspoken. Nothing needed to be said. If Ash came after them... They were screwed.

(The author used a repel to keep the wild linebreaks away! Guess it failed...)

* * *

Ash thought back to what had happened. He had gone back to visit Latias in Altomare. She had been overjoyed to see him, as has Bianca and Lorenzo. He had spent several days there, catching up with them. According to Bianca, this was the happiest she had seen Latias in a while, being around Ash. Latias had been devastated by first the loss of her brother, then by the leaving of her friend. Something she neglected to mention was that Latias had a crush on ash. Anyway, one thing led to another, and Bianca and Lorenzo had urged Latias to go with him. It would be good experience for her, and she need all the training she could get to protect herself. Ash had agreed, and left a few days later, bringing one more pokemon back with him than he had started with.

A few months passed, and the two had gotten closer. They were inseperable, and this had irked May and Misty. It became clear to the girls that Ash and Latias shared a bond that went deeper than friendship. Things went along for about a week, and then it happened. Ash stayed up late practicing with his pokemon. Latias won her first practice battle, and rushed to hug her trainer joyfully. She had given Ash a small kiss on the cheek- not much, but enough to set off the little green monster in the hearts of the secretly watching girls. They had gone back to the house, and jealousy clouded their thinking. The kiss had pushed them over the edge. May had called in an anonymous tip about a case of a human and pokemon loving each other- something that was illegal in the five regions. She had been filled with slight remorse and hung up, but the damage was done. Officer Jenny had pulled up soon after, and had arrested him. The court case and his trial were all a blur in his memory. He remembered the four co-conspirators taking the stand and testifying against him, those he had considered friends. He remembered the bang of the gavel as the judge declared him guilty, and the outburst that arose from the prosecution as Misty and May realized what they had done and protested the sentence. They had never intended Ash to actually get punished, they just thought the court would have broken ash and Latias apart. That might have been the normal result, but something had occurred outside their sphere of control. This was only made clear to Ash when Scott visited him, clearly upset.

Ash still remembered that meeting clearly though. That one had been... interesting. Scott had sat down and pulled out a briefcase. He had opened it, pulled something out, and laid it on the table. "Ash, there is nothing you have done wrong, I found something interesting. Look at this."

Ash had done as instructed. The more he read, the more shocked he grew. "Is this really?"

"True? Yes. That is a transcript of a conference call between Mr. Goodshow and the leaders of the various evil teams you have encountered. Magma, Flare, Plasma , Rocket and the like. They leaned on him to get you a life sentence. After I got ahold of this, I did some digging. I found that the league and the teams work together a lot. Wonder why the police is undermanned and under equipped? The league intentionally holds them back, making it easier for the teams. In fact, they even put a poison of some kind on the pokemon here in the five regions every time they go to a pokemon centre that inhibits growth. In exchange, the teams give kickbacks and money to Mr. Goodshow and the league. You were set up and doomed from the beginning of the trial. I'm sorry. I did my best to help you, but I kept getting overruled." He stood up and started pacing. "I won't stand for it. As soon as you arrive at your prison, I will get every frontier brain, every gym leader, every trainer that supports you and owes you. We will break you out no matter what. Don't worry." Ash shot up in his seat and grabbed his arm.

"Scott, look at me." Ash commanded. "I will not have you do this. Don't get into trouble on my account."

Scott snorted. "Trouble? I am intending more than trouble. We will break you out, and then i am going to do everything I can to obstruct the league, come hell or high water."

"But the battle frontier? What will they do if even one of you gets caught? I appreciate it Scott, I really do, but do not do this. Besides..." He leaned forward and whispered the next part. "I already am going to get out. I won't even be at the prison period. I can handle this. You would be more helpful keeping your influence and staying in the god graces of Mr. Goodshow than trying to help me. Understood?"

"But-" At the sight of the young trainer's steely eyed gaze, Scott sighted. "Fine. We will do it your way. But if you dont get out on your own, we will get you out, no matter what you say. Clear?"

The trainer chuckled. "As crystal. Now, I think our time is drawing to a close. We don't want the police getting suspicious."

Scot nodded and packed up. As he was about to exit the room, he turned and looked back for one moment. "Good luck." Then he was gone.

(End flashback)

* * *

Latias came shooting out of the sky, silent and stealthy as a wraith. She charged power for a few seconds, then let it loose in the form of her signature move. The mist ball exploded in the middle of the convoy. The blast forced all the trucks to stop, and the thick, draining mist did no favors to the officers of the law. She spiralled down, and used a flamethrower on the side of the truck Ash was in. The steel was meant to withstand attacks yes, but not from a legendary. As the metal heated up, she stopped and switched to ice beam. The expanding and then contracting of the iron weakened it, and she knocked the wall down with a dragon claw. She poked her head inside and saw her trainer. She told him to get on, and then they soared away, beyond the reach of any pursuit.

* * *

Ash was broken out of his reverie by the sound of an explosion as his vehicle came to a stop. He grinned. Latias had come through. As the wall began to heat up, he moved away, out of the range of any incoming attacks. As the wall was knocked down, he caught sight of a red and white head, telling him to get on. He gladly did so, giving her a hug as he mounted, then they were gone, the only trace of their presence was the crater in the road, and a automobile with three walls.

* * *

Giovanni Rocketto was sitting back in his lazy chair stroking his Persian when he saw the headline. He quickly opened the article and narrowed his gaze when he saw what had happened. He spent a moment in thought, then reached out and grasped his new X-transceiver. He quickly punched in the name and waited as it connected him. When the static cleared, he was looking at Mr. Goodshow. "Charles. Did you see this? He held the newspaper so the president could see it. As Mr. Goodshow read it, his face turned pale.

"Thank you for alerting me of this. I will send some of my top employees after him immediately. He won't get far."

"See that he doesn't. I do not appreciate being made a fool." Giovanni cut the connection, leaned back in his chair and sighed. "Sometimes I hate being around incompetent fools." He muttered. Persian meowed in agreement and moved to get his back scratched.


	2. Chapter 2

Master of Eons 2

Archie and Maxie were sitting at a table, each holding a suitcase, staring each other down. The only others in the area were a few grunts who had been brought along as guards. Archie spoke first.

"Right. Now the way I see it, we will both exchange the suitcases with the spherical maps in it aye?"

Maxie nodded in agreement. "That is correct. Do not even think of trying to trick me."

Archie clutched his heart with his hand. "Me!? Cheat you? Never! I am ashamed to think that you would believe I would go back on me word. Are we going to do this or not?" Maxie nodded and the two slowly started to exchange the items, keeping their gases locked on the other. With a sudden blur of movement they grabbed their portion of the trade and looked at it suspiciously.

"Seems to be the right weight. Pleasure doing business with you." They got up and parted ways, making sure they weren't followed. As soon as Maxie was out of sight Archie dropped to his knees and unlocked the briefcase. As the lid fell open, he looked inside- and his jaw dropped. Inside was nothing but a shiny green bowling ball. "Maxie you cheating scum!"

* * *

Maxie strode away, chuckling to himself. He had completely fooled Archie, hook, line and sinker. He had gotten the map, while he had given his rival a bowling ball. He stopped and looked inside his container- and howled in fury. "Archie you scurvy dog!" He had been tricked. He had nothing but a few bricks. He heard an answering roar from Archie as he to realized the deceit. The two sides rushed together back to the middle of the field, drawing out their poke balls as they went. They glowered at each other. "You tricked us."

"Your point? You fooled us too, turn and turn about is fair play."

There were clashes of light as both sides released their Pokemon. Team Aqua had a Walreign, a Milotic, two luvdiscs, an octillary, a gyrados, and a pelipper. Team Magna had unleashed a pair of magcargos, a magmar, a camarupt, a charmeleon, and an arcanine. "This seems slightly unfair. You have more people and Pokemon than us."

Archie smiled thinly. "Not likely. You forgot the one you had hiding up a tree. Shelly!" At his command a team magma grunt was sent flying into the clearing in front of Maxie. "Now walrein, use-" He was cut off by the ringing of his communications system. A similar ringing was emanating from Maxie's pocket. The two slid it out of their pockets and up to their ears in one smooth matching motion. "Hello?" They chorused in unison. A voice blared out at them.

"What are you two imbeciles doing? You had better not be fighting again!" The two leaders glanced at each other and then responded.

"No, no. Of course not. Why would you think that Giovanni?" The voice on the other end grunted.

"Huh. Because I know the pair of you better than the readers, and even they know that you are lying."

"Readers?"

"Oh don't mind him Archie. Giovanni has this crazy conspiracy theory that we are all fictional characters being controlled by an author, and that people are reading what we we are doing."

"Huh. Crazy old salt."

"I heard that you know! Regardless, I need you two to listen to me. Remember that kid we paid the league to get rid of? He has escaped. Mr. Goodshow promised to track him down, but I would like you to ensure that he is caught. He will be fleeing this region and may be headed your way. Got it?"

"Why us?"

"Because you two double cross each other so often you should be able discover any deception. I would prefer the money we sent not to go to waste."

"Okay. We will do it."

"Good. And remember, be on the lookout." The head of team rocket hung up and the two heads looked at each other. "I guess you get to escape your destruction for another day." The head of team Magna growled. "But remember this, Lord Groudon will be awoken!" And with that last parting shot the two sides marched away.

* * *

Lysandre was having his morning cup of tea in his cage when his phone rang. He picked it up and answered. "This is Lysandre speaking. May I ask who is calling?"

"This is G. Are you on a secure line?" Lysandre glanced around and so nobody nearby. He hunched over and put his back to the wall just in case. "Yes."

"Keep your voice down, but that Ketchum boy escaped. I need you to try and get Dr. Xerosic to predict his movements. I will not have Charles cheat us this way. If you could send a flare or two after him I would appreciate it. Also, there is something I would like to buy. A mega stone, to be precise."

"Consider it done. No one makes fools out of us and gets away with it. I assume that you would like the stone we talked about earlier to be delivered in the usual manner?"

"Yes, and tomorrow a "gift" will find its way to your account. The normal amount."

"Good. Nice doing business with you." The connection cut off. Lysandre promptly dialed another number and waited. After a moment, the other end was answered. "Hello Malva. I need you to do something for me...

* * *

Cyrus attempted to answer the call but was forced to drop it to dodge an attack. He scooped it up and rattled off quickly. "Hello, whatever it is can wait, I am currently-" he ducked under a rogue flamethrower "Fending off Cynthia. Call you later bye!" He hung up and devoted his full attention to the battle going on in front of him. On the other end of the line Giovanni fumed. No one told him to wait and try later. No one!

* * *

Ghetsis walked confidently onto the stage and took the microphone. "People of Unova-" he was interrupted by the ringing of his X-transceiver. He handed the mic to N and walked off the stage before answering the call. "Hello?" "Ketchum escaped. He may come to your region, so be on the lookout." "How did he get away!?" Ghetsis roared in anger. "Charles promised us he would keep him locked away! How did he escape so quickly?"

"We do not know, so caution is advised. Charles had promised to send a top trainer to retrieve him, so don't worry. He won't be on the loose for long."

"Who is he sending?"

"He has pulled out all the stops for this one. He understands how essential this is. The one being sent... Is none other than champion Lance.

 **Annnnnddddd cut! Finally a bit of drama! More will be explained so, do not worry. Cookies to whoever can guess what mega stone is wanted. Hint hint, it may not be canon, I have not kept up with X and Y/ OR and AS. Question, in two or three chapters ash will need a full team of Pokemon. I have made my mind up on four of them. Two of them are pikachu and Latias (duh) and the other two are *Loud noisy truck passing by obscures the reveal* So I need two others so feel free to leave your opinion. Legendary Pokemon are eligible, just please do not go overboard. Ash will already have two of them, so preferably non lengendarys. He will tend to use them when he is ticked off or as a last resort. He will NOT be like Tobias, simply using them and sweeping everyone for the fun of it. I would like him to have regular Pokemon so he is not over powered. Please leave a Pokemon, as well as something special about it and/or backstory. For example, an eggsecute that can have each of its eggs use individual attacks, Latias turning invisible, Pikachu hitting ground types with electric attacks, etc.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Would you guys like me to go more in depth on the time gap or should I just give a quick recap and dive into the tournament-for-which-there-is-no-name-for-yet? Or I could do a mix, focus on a few of the scenes(such as his Pokemon and his attitude change) and skip the vast majority. That is also an option. If I have an antagonist, it will be mainly team rocket. They (with the exception of the three fools who are constantly getting in the way and annoying the viewers) seem to at least have some halfway competent agents, e.g. Annie and Oakley, Bill and Cassidy, Domino, and the Iron masked marauder. Anyway, on with the show!**

 **Disclaimer**

 **Listen-is that a clacking keyboard I hear?**

 **I can hear it, loud and clear!**

 **On the wind!**

 **Past the stars!**

 **In your ear!**

 **Writing chapters at a breakneck pace!**

 **Dashing downers and putting reviews in their place!**

 **A story by any other name is just as sweet!**

 **When everything written our work is complete.**

 **A chapter**

 **And it's MOE**

 **Zero D 30, now that's a name!**

 **Putting the flamers in their place-**

 **We are fanfiction-**

 **In your face!**

 **Phew. Needed to get that out of my system. Thanks to thor94 who was the first reviewer. As such, this means that- (Jirachi appears in the background) his wish is granted! (Tags glow) One of his choices will be featured in this chapter! I will discuss why I picked that one at the ending AN**

A cloaked figure with a cape was sitting at a cafe table having his breakfast when the phone rang. He picked it up and listened to the message, gave his answer, and hung up. He sat silently and thought for a minute before shaking his head. "Ash, what hornets nest have you stirred up this time?" He quickly got up and strode away, leaving payment for the meal on the table. "Dragonite, I need you." As his faithful companion appeared in a flash of light, Lance got on his back. "Head for the area around Vermillion city, on the double." Dragonite sped off, leaving a sonic boom in his wake.

* * *

The escape had been going wonderfully. No pursuit had been spotted, and Scott was stalling the local law enforcement with a fake emergency. That was when he saw him. A figure on a dragonite speeding in his direction. It was ether Lance or Drake, and Drake was much to far away to get here this quickly. It must be Lance. Ash cursed, of course the champion would be nearby. He leaned forward. "Latias, can you do that cloaking thing you do?" An affirmative cry came from beneath him as the eon Pokemon turned invisible, changing him too. Ash thought they had evaded him- up till the point were his hat fell off.

* * *

Lance had gotten here as fast as he could. He patrolled the sky, looking for any trace of his target. He thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye and steered Dragonite that way. Nothing was there, but then- did a hat just appear out of thin air? His eyes narrowed. It was a cap, just like the one Ash always wore. It did not take long to put two and two together. "Dragonite, flamethrower!" As the fire roared towards empty space, the dragon master tensed in anticipation. There! A green ripple of protect! "Ash, we know you are there. Please land so we can talk."

"Like Hell!" Came the response from the invisible entity.

"If that is how you want to play it. Dragonite! Use your hearing to track it, then use water gun!"

"Safeguard, then get out of here!" A blue bubble of light formed around the still unrevealed Latias, before she went into a dive, trying to shake Dragonite. It didn't work. It easily followed her and stayed behind her the whole way. Ash was by this point thinking desperately, with Ash on her back, they could not outrun Lance. It was unlikely that they could fight him off, Lance was a champion and had trained his dragons for years. Ash had yet to use Latias outside of practice. Latias pulled up in a tight loop before spinning so she was right behind Dragonite. She let out a dragon breath that barely missed as the final stage dragon banked out of the way. The two jostled for position as the dragons bumped and ran into each other. Latias attempted her maneuver from earlier, but Dragonite was ready for it. This time, as she settled behind him, he out on the brakes and slammed into her with an ice punch. Her head snapped back and Ash could no longer hold on. His grip slipped and he plummeted off her back.

* * *

Lance watched in horror as Dragonite landed a good hit but knocked Ash off. He quickly rapped out orders. "Dragonite, dive and catch him." Dragonite dove forward, accompanied by Latias who tried to get under her trainer. The two fought, both trying to be the first to reach the free falling human. Dragonite would have made it, but got slammed by a moon blast that rocketed out of the trees below. "What?" Lance yelled as Dragonite, badly hurt, peeled off and worked to glide to the ground. Latias easily caught him and also headed to the ground. Once they reached it, Lance returned his Dragonite and leaned against a tree. "Well well. You did a nice job of evading us. What Pokemon is that?" Ash looked at Latias for confirmation then back to Lance.

"Latias."

"The legendary Pokemon?"

"The same."

Latias uncloaked herself and stared him down. "Don't even think about it." She telepathed.

"Think about what? I was not thinking about anything."

"Trying to catch me. I can see it in your eyes. Don't even try. I already have a trainer." She said gesturing at Ash.

"Was that you with the moonblast?"

Ash decided to interject. "No, that wasn't us. Who was that?"

They both looked around and shrugged. "Anyway, are you going to take me back?"

"No. I just wanted to talk. I was curious about how you got away. I guess that answers my question." He walked away and pulled out a pokeball. "Dragonair." As he mounted his transport, he looked back once. "By the way, Scott sends his regards." He said with a wink. Then he was gone. Ash turned and looked at Latias.

"Well, that was interesting. You can come out now!" He called, looking past the floating dragon. Out came a very small cute Pokemon. It was a mammalian, quadruped creature with primarily brown fur. The tip of its bushy tail and its large furry collar were cream-colored. It has short, slender legs with three small toes and a pink paw pad on each foot. The little one had brown eyes, long pointed ears, and a small black nose. It was an eevee. Ash crouched down to its level.

"Was that you little one?" Eevee yipped at Latias and leaped toward Ash. There was a brief flash of light, and a Flareon landed in his arms and snuggled up to him. Ash almost dropped her in surprise.

"What?"

Latias answered his question. "That Eevee says it has seen you before. Something about an Entei."

"Wait a minute... Were you that Eevee with Molly Hale?" Flareon changed into Espeon and nodded, before reaching out with her tail and touching Latias. A blue shine emitted from them and blinded then temporarily. When it cleared, they were watching Molly battle Misty. "Apparently Espeon is using some version of sight sharing Ash." Latias 'pathed. "These are her memories." They watched as Molly won the match and got her badge before going after Ash. The scene changed, now showing Molly hidding under the bed, watching Entei fight. She was scared, and clutched Eevee for comfort. There was a soft glow as she evolved and became a Sylveon. The scene changed as it now showed Molly wishing for things to go back to normal, and then hesitating before wishing for Eevee to stay. Eevee jumped into her arms in joy before changing into a Leafeon. The scene ended and glowed brightly. When it was over, they were back in the real world. Ash looked at Eevee in surprise.

"So you can not only change your forms at will but were the first fairy type as well?"

Eevee nodded, snuggling further into him.

"I wonder how much overtime work your evolving caused to Arceus?" Ash mused. "Anyway, would you like to come with me?" Before he had even finished Eevee had already tagged a ball on his belt and was sucked in. "Yes!" Ash cheered. "I caught an Eevee!" Latias just shook her head at her trainers childish behavior.

* * *

Somewhere far away...

A small green figure shook her fist in anger. "Arceus? Don't talk to me about Arceus! He just delegated it to me!" Celebi popped the top of a bottle of medicine and took an aspirin. "You have no idea of the extant of a headache caused by excessive time travel. It took me forever!"

 **Right. Now, for the reasons of my selection. One, because I saw a way to make a special eevee with the unknown. It also explained a previously unexplained reason for the fairy type pretty well. It became a Sylveon due to the love and affection Molly showed it. I know that Molly does not use an Eevee. Roll with it. This is fanfiction, I can do things like that. I thought Gengar was an original choice, but it didn't really fit what I had in mind. Ash leans more, at least in the anime, on upfront battling, luck, and unorthodox tactics. He is not the kind of devious person needed to use ghosts to their full potential. Zoroark is a pseudo-legendary( I think) and would be borderline. Also *spoiler* One of the two unrevealed Pokemon is a duel dark type. Ash does not really double up on types. This Pokemon is needed to keep him in line, because of its job description. First to guess correctly gets an OC of their choice later on! Finally, Charizard. While he is an awesome Pokemon, and is still in the running for the last slot, he is not a team lock due to the *spoiler* duel fire type already planned. Plus, so far the others slightly edge him out on the coolness factor. Thank you for your suggestions. I do read all the reviews. Just for the record, Dragonite is beyond cool, and is on my top ten list of Pokemon. This concludes the ridiculously long ANs for this chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4 Battle 4 Atlantis part one

**Lions, Tigers and Megas, oh my!**

 **Not everything is as it seems, dreams are truths, and truths are dreams...**

 **Ash and Aaron are the same person. I am hereby doing away with the four moves only rule.**

 **I do not own Pokemon. If I did, Shaymin would rule the world!**

Altomare **.** He would win this for Altomare. The city that had taken him in, gave him refuge, and formed him into the trainer he was today. Altomare was dying. After it had left the five regions, all trade partners had cut off diplomatic relations. The city, left with no one to turn to, declined. But this was his chance. If he won this tournament, a branch of Devon Co. would base itself wherever the winner lived. That, along with the international attention he would receive, could save the city. He took a deep breath. He could do this. For Altomare. As the signal was given, and the lights came on, he strode out into the stadium. The roar of the crowd reached his ears and he smirked, bouncing on the balls of his feet with anticipation. This was what he lived for. This was his moment. The voice of the announcer spread throughout the stadium. "Ladiessss and gentlemen! Today we bring you a very special match, the finals for the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament! This tournament has sponsored the best trainers worldwide, and set them against each other, in a constructed underwater city! After a month of competition, the finale is here! Putting master against student, teacher against pupil!" At this point Ash grinned. He had been shocked to see his opponent. He didn't even know he owned any Pokemon.

"Give a hand for your other competitor!" As the figure walked in, he was greeted with a maelstrom of applause. His opponent was none other than Scott.

* * *

"This will pit the newest member of the battle frontier against the owner and manager of the frontier! Aaron Kario against Scott! Choose your poke balls and hold them ready in your left hand please."

Scott looked at Ash and smiled. "Don't hold back *Aaron*" he gave him a sly wink.

"Wouldn't dream of it. Let's give them a show!"

"Indeed. Best two for last?"

"Fine by me."

The referee took the field and raised his flags. "This will be a full six on six battle, switching is not allowed. There will be a five minute break after three of either sides Pokemon are unable to continue. Let the match begin!"

Ash smirked and threw out his Pokemon. "Go, Eevee!"

An answering cry came from the other side of the field. "Go, pelipper!"

"Pelipper vs Eevee!" Let the match begin!"

"Eevee, turn into Jolteon and use thunderbolt!"

"Pelipper, use steel wing and touch it to the ground!" As the bolt of electricity snaked across the arena, it was drained into the ground effortlessly. The arena itself was an ever shifting meld of water, grass and rock, with random patches of ice and a lake in the middle with a mountain off to one side. "Now pelipper, use flamethrower!"

"Change into Vaporeon and use acid armor, then shadow ball!" The flamethrower played harmlessly across the new pool of water before Vaporeon reformed and used the commanded attack.

"Knock it back with pysbeam Pelipper!"

"Return the favor with ice beam!" The shadow ball, now sparkling purple and frozen, bounced back and forth between the two battlers, who kept using the same attacks. Both trainers were transfixed by the impromptu game of ping pong, until Ash saw a chance to take an advantage. "Ice beam again, then get close and slam it into him with iron tail!" He added the last part in a whisper so only his Pokemon could hear. Pelipper used pysbeam again, before suddenly Vaporeon appeared in front, tail glowing.

"What-"

"Go!" Vaporeon slammed down the iron tail, sending the ball back at point blank range into Pelipper, where it promptly exploded into a cloud of smoke. "Finish this with quick attack!" Vaporeon leaped forward, slamming Pelipper into the stadium wall. When the smoke cleared, the water flying was clearly unconscious. The referee was quick to take action.

"Pelipper is unable to battle! Vaporeon wins! Trainer Scott, send out your next Pokemon!"

Scott's hand played with his poke balls as he stared at ash. "Aaron, did you have that planned out?"

"Truthfully? No. But remember what I am the frontier brain of. After all, it is my specialty."

"Does that mean I can call you Mr. McGyver?"

"No. Call me Mr. Improvisation."

"Fair enough. Go, Raichu!" The electric mouse evolution of Pikachu popped out of his ball and took a battle stance, his tail curling up behind him. Ash stared. He had not seen many Raichus, and none recently, but this one looked fit and trim.

"Raichu against Eevee alias Vaporeon. Battle begin!" "Vaporeon, change to Leafeon and use rock smash!"

"Wait for it Raichu... Wait for it... Use sand attack and then thunder!" Raichu's tail sprang into action, dragging along the ground and kicking up a cloud of sand for protection before getting to a safe distance and letting loose with the powerful move. Leafeon was blinded and was a sitting duck, taking a powerful shot and getting hurled away. It jumped to its feet, down, but by no means out. "Go, change into Sylveon and use draining kiss to restore your health!"

"Use hidden power!"

Sylveon twisted over the attack-straight into the path of the second attack that had been fired after a split second gap. The attack was super effective and sent Sylveon spinning away. Ash grunted and looked at Scott with even more respect than before. "Clever. Very clever. And I don't even know if it is steel or poison type, making it so I can't use Leafeon without extreme danger. Vaporeon is out of the question due to electricity. I know you have iron tail, so Sylveon is in trouble. You are trying to force me into a box. It won't work. Go! Eevee, change into Umbreon and use Haze, then moonlight!" The stadium rapidly darkened and Raichu was left blind. As soon as Eevee finished healing, Umbreon lunged forward in response to a hand signal and let loose a barrage of night slashes before fading away into the darkness.

"Enough of this! Raichu, sunny day!" The stadium brightened and a interesting sight appeared. Raichu looked badly hurt, swaying on its feet. But determined to keep fighting. Umbreon had her claws to his throat and was looking to the referee. Scott quickly rapped out orders. "Bestow, then discharge!" Bestow worked correctly, but Raichu was knocked out by shadow claw before it could use discharge. Scott called him back and looked at the pokeball affectionately. "Don't worry. You did your best and do what I needed you too." He looked up at Ash. "You have done well, but Umbreon is done. I have it right were I want it. Go, Tyranitar!" The massive rock-dark type erupted onto the field, and the field shook when it landed. Ash looked at Tyranitar in awe. This one in particular was massive, even bigger than wild ones.

"All right! Leafeon, use leaf blade!" The evolution of Eevee nodded and charged, light on its feet.

Scott chuckled. "Getting in close? Big mistake. While tyranitar does know ranged moves such as flamethrower and hyper beam, he can also do this! Power up punch, then rock slide!"

"Dodge it." Leafeon tried to move but suddenly slowed down. The fighting type move connected and sent her flying.

"Now tyranitar, finish it!" Rocks formed in midair and crashed down onto the leafeon. When it was finished, it was clear eevee was out of it. Ash recalled the normal type and whispered a few words of comfort. Then he looked up.

"How? Leafeon is much faster normally... Oh. You clever rascal you. It was bestow, wasn't it." It wasn't a question. Scott smiled. "Well spotted Aaron. My Raichu had been holding a lagging tail for training purposes. When I saw he was going down, I passed it on to slow Eevee down. It paid off, and Tyranitar easily defeated it. Let us see how you respond to this."

Ash mentally ran through a list of his pokemon in his head. _"No, saving those two for last. Tyranitar knows fighting moves, so he is out of the question. Not sure he can take him now, so that means..."_ He looked down beside him at his starter. Pikachu looked back, cheeks crackling with electricity. He leaned down to him. "I leave this up to you. I know you likely cannot win, but I need you to try to weaken him. Will you do this?" Pikachu nodded and sprinted out onto the field and crouched down, ready to fight. Ash straightened. "I choose Pikachu!"

Scott looked askance at him. "May I ask why? He is not the best choice to fight Tyranitar. Surely you have a better matchup."

"I know that. But I need to weaken him, and who better than Pikachu? Besides, type doesn't mean everything."

Scott chuckled, shaking his head. "Some things never change. Alright, let's go!" The referee, having seen the damage the two could cause in earlier battles, spoke from behind the shelter of one of those clear police shields used during riots.

"Tyranitar Vs Pikachu! Let the match begin!"

"While your choice of Pikachu might have worked other times, it won't help you." Scott pulled off his sunglasses and turned them around so Ash could see the small stone embedded between the lenses.

"Is that?"

"Yes it is. Go, Mega Evolution!" As his stone started to glow, Scott looked into the eyes of his opponent. _"Let's see how Ash handles this."_

The Tyranitar's new look was... interesting. It was even bigger than before, built like a tank, with spines jutting out from the sides. It roared, and the loud noise caused the stadium floor to shake.

"Alright Pikachu, use thunderbolt!" Pikachu's cheeks sparked, before leaping into the air and discharging the electricity. "PIIIIKAAACHU!" The Tyranitar took the shock and shook it off easily. "Pikachu, again! Keep using thunderbolt". Pikachu kept it up, constantly sending sizzling volts towards the Mega.

Scott shook his head. "Tsk, tsk. I know you are planning to paralyze Mega Tyranitar before using iron tail, but give me some credit man! It was hard to get to where I now stand! Tyranitar, use earthquake, then unleash bide!" Ash froze. Any attack from a Mega would be devastating, let alone a super effective move and one that doubled the power. As the floor cracked and broke apart, he came to a decision. "Spring into the air, then use thunderbolt counter shield!" The jump dodged the earthquake, but left it a sitting duck for the bide. A white beam of energy streaked towards Pikachu, was checked for a moment by the defense, then shattered it and slammed into the little electric type. Pikachu was hurled back and landed next to Ash. There were several bruises and contusions, and Pikachu was clearly hurt.

"Pikachu. Can you keep going?" The electric type nodded and shot forward, not waiting for his trainer to give a command. "Pikachu, agility, then quick attack to get close!" Pikachu put on a burst of speed and got behind Tyranitar, before coming down in an successful Iron Tail attack into the diamond on the Mega's back. Tyranitar stumbled forward and Pikachu darted away. "Great job! Now, use electro ball!" Pikachu built the ball of electricity up and launched it forward. Scott was quick to respond.

"Good effort. But not good enough. Flamethrower!" Tyranitar inhaled, and then let out a scorching stream of flame that destroyed the electro ball.

"Pikachu, use your speed to get close then use Iron Tail."

Scott smirked. "That won't work twice. This is checkmate. Tyranitar, catch its tail with duel brick break."

"What?"

It happened in slow motion to Ash. Pikachu brought down the gleaming tail, and Tyranitar brought its hands together in brick break, catching the attack perfectly. Pikachu was left, stunned, with its tail trapped between the claws of the behemoth. "Now, Hyper beam!" The white light burst forth instantly and slammed into Pikachu, sending him into the wall of the stadium. When the smoke cleared, Pikachu tried valiantly to pry himself out of the wall, before running out of energy and slumping forward.

"Pikachu is unable to win! Mega Tyranitar is the winner!"

Ash ran forward and slid next to his electric mouse on his knees. "Are you alright buddy?" Pikachu woke up and gave him a shaky thumbs up. Ash scooped him up and carried him back to the trainer's box, setting him so he had a view of the stadium. Then he turned around and took a deep breath. "Good job Scott. I did not see that coming. You have showed me some interesting things today. Including your Mega. Now let me show you mine! Go, Gallade!"

The psychic fighting duel type hit the field and started to glow as Ash triggered the mega evolution. When it faded, Gallade had a cape and both blades on his arms had extended by a considerable amount.

The referee raised his flags. "This is a match between Mega Gallade and Mega Tyranitar. After this battle there will be a five minute break. Battle begin!"

Scott wasted no time. "Continuous earthquake while building power for dark pulse!" The stadium floor trembled and shook, constantly keeping Gallade off balance. Then Tyranitar unleashed the beam of dark blue and back energy at Gallade.

"Detect, then swords dance." Gallade ducked under the attack and miniature swords circled around him for a moment.

"Use stone edge into the air, then use psycho cut to cut it into long thin pieces." Gallade gave an affirmative sound. Scott frowned, that command made no sense, what good would a chopped up stone edge be? Well, the best defense was a good offense.

"Use earthquake!"

Ash shook his head. "Big mistake. Without that move, the end is near."

As the dozens of slices of rock fell from the sky, he gave his next command. "Use taunt." Tyranutar found out that it could no longer use earthquake. Ash smirked. "Time to end this. Gallade, take to the sky and as you get closer, keep using swords dance." The blade Pokemon leaped up and balanced on one foot on top of a spire of rock before using the commanded attack then leaping forward. The long thin chunks of the stone edge were perfect pillars to stand on, and Gallade used it to his full advantage, charging forward, using the pillars as launch pads.

Scott began to get worried. "Quick! Knock it off its course with dark pulse! Keep firing until you hit it!" The ranged attacks streaked forward in a stream of a bombardment, but Gallade effortlessly dodged them. He would backflip, jump up, leap sideways, and even limbo under the blasts. The audience was eating it up, and the announcer was excitedly describing the scene. "Gallade looks almost as if it is dancing in the air! What a novel tactic!"

Scott knew he could not let it get to close range or he was finished. Time for a last desperate throw of the dice.

"Hyper beam!" As Tyranitar gathered the energy for a last ditch attempt Ash smirked.

"Checkmate."

As the orange bean land headed straight towards Mega Gallade, he was unable to get out of the way in time. The hit resulted in an enormous explosion, and smoke filled the arena. Everyone peered anxiously into the smoke, trying to see what had happened. Ash's voice cut through the chaos. "Now!" And low and behold, Mega Gallade streaked across the arena floor, looking only a little worse for wear before jumping and spinning to give his move extra impact. "Close combat!"

The powerful fighting type move, boosted by swords dance and focus energy, plus the type bonus of Gallade, was super effective. Mega Tyranitar was actually lifted off his feet by the force before crashing to the ground several yards away. He was clearly unconscious. The crowd was silent for a moment before the began to cheer. The first half of the championship match was over.

 **Gallade is not a staple, and can and will be replaced if enough people want someone different. In future, I will give any announcers/referees names to make it easier to address them. I know Pikachu was used early, but like it was mentioned, Ash is already keepiing his two best in reserve. Also, just not a good matchup for Pikachu on the whole anyway, despite Iron Tail. And it is not like Ash had not sacrificed pokemon before to weaken his opponent (Dragonite, Darkrai) Just a thought, as I am not sure when I will complete the next chapter of MHC. Percy will not just stay out of the fight, I have the storyline all planned out, this is not spur of the moment writing. Also, the description I used of Anak14 came from a youtube video. I personally think that he is a great author, but you can have your opinions and I can have mine. Anyway, if anyone bothers to read this, tune in next time to see the second half of the battle!**


	5. Chapter 5 and 6 Battle 4 Atlantis part 2

**Now my young Padawan's… Let this be a lesson to you… Thanks to the two reviewers who were prompt after the publishing of the last chapter. Because of them, I put in extra time tonight and this morning to get this done. I could be wrong, but I thought Zoruark and Zorua were pseudo legendries. Just because there are more than one does not disqualify them. Two examples are Garchomp and Dragonite. He can have more than six, I just needed a team pronto for this pair of chapters with the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament. As for the name of the tournament, I got inspiration from real life, plus the name sounded cool. Thank you for liking my writing style for battles. I try to make all the noteworthy ones have something unique and unorthodox, Ash's specialty. It can get complicated, since I have one side try something and then I have to think how I would counter it myself.**

 **The Battle 4 Atlantis part 2**

Scott recalled his Tyranitar, shaking his head. "That was an interesting innovation Ash. Staying off the ground kept it safe from my ground type moves, while giving it immense flexibility. You have done well, but now… Time to get serious." Scott pulled his next pokeball out, along with something else which he put on his hand. "Go!" He threw it onto the field- and out appeared a strange sight.

Ash cocked his head to one side. "What is that thing?"

* * *

Up in the VIP box, the elder frontier brains shuddered. Some of the younger brains, such as Noland and Annabel, looked at them curiously. "What is it?"

Spencer looked at them stunned. "Black glove Scott." He whispered. "He only pulls it on when he gets serious. Trust me,you do not want to see him with it. He had not used the black glove for years. It is at once an honor and a terror that he is using it against Ash. Scott only has one more mode more dangerous. Matters are only made worse by the Pokémon he is using. He was Scott's starter you know. He has… Something Interesting about him which Scott will use. It will be interesting to see how he copes. Ash is good, but Scott may be better. Only time will tell."

After this, the leaders of the battle frontier looked down with appraising gazes, eager to see a match for the ages. Spencer cast an interested look at the only none frontier brain in the place, a girl none of them seemed to know, before shrugging and turning back to the fight.

* * *

Scott's pokemon was interesting. It looked like a spinda, but Ash had never seen one like it. Its fur was midnight blue, with silver splotches. It was not a shiny spinda, it was the wrong color. He did a little wave at Ash. "Hello. Are we going to play tag?"

Ash blinked. "Pardon?"

Scott groaned. "Ignore him. He can act this way sometimes. Go ahead and start the match."

The referee stepped forward. "Mega Gallade against not-normal-colored-at-all-Spinda! Battle begin!"

Ash snorted. "If this is how he acts, this should be easy. Gallade, brick break." Spinda was currently trying to stand on its head, completely ignoring everything going on around it. As Mega Gallade charged forward, Scott shook his head in disappointment.

"Come on Aaron. I trained you better than this. You should know that great things can come in small packages. Spinda, do what you do best."

As Gallade drew its arm back and lunged forward to hit it across the arena, Spinda suddenly lost its balance and fell on its face. Gallade overextended and stumbled forward, trying to regain his balance.

"Metronome!" Spinda lurched unsteadily to his feet and pointed his hand, glowing with white energy, at Gallade's back. The attack turned into a continuous blast of wind, sending Galladeinto the ground. "Now use Ariel ace!" Spinda raced orward and dovoe into the downed Gallade. Gallade got to his feet before glaring at tne small panda.

"Never underestimate the power of any pokemon. Let's see how you handle this."

Ash gritted his teeth. "Use leaf blade!"

Gallade again attempted to hit the elusive Pokemon, but Spinda just kept ducking and weaving, seemingly heedless of the attacking opponent. The glowing green arm never even touched him. "Gallade, disengage and draw back."

Gallade took several leaps backward, putting some distance between himself and the Spinda to give his trainer time to think. Scott had no intention of giving Aaron time to come up with a plan however.

"Use yawn and then dizzy punch." The yawn was easily avoided, but it was intended as a distraction. Gallade looked up in time to see Spinda driving a fist into his chest and reeled back, more in shock at how fast it moved than anything else.

"Use night slash Gallade!"

Gallade's left arm glowed black... Before he smacked himself in the face. He then started to do some shadow boxing, striking out at empty air and occasionally hitting himself.

Scott nodded. "Good work Spinda." The dizzy panda nodded, still teetering back and forth.

Ash gritted his teeth. He was forced to wait until the confusion wore off. He put the time to good use. He had noticed that the Spinda seemed to be anticipating where Gallade would strike at him, and then evading the strike. That gave him the germ of an idea.

* * *

Back in the VIP box, the frontier brains were still watching the match. "Looks like Scott has Gallade on the ropes." Tucker stated.

Annabel disagreed. "I can see the glint in his eye from here. He is about to try something so crazy and ridiculous it just might work. Plus, he has not been using his full advantage yet."

Lucy was the one who decided to take the plunge and ask the obvious question. "What advantage?"

Annabel smirked. "That is for me to know and you to find out in a few minutes."

* * *

"Spinda use rock smash, go!" The little Pokemon leaped forward, ready to deal a hit to the still confused Gallade.

"Wait for it... Wait for it... Gallade! Use close combat and aim away from Spinda!" This confused the crowd greatly, someone was telling his Pokemon to aim _away_ from the opponent? Their question was answered as Gallade threw a vicious series of punches that Spinda walked right into, sending the small opponent sailing across the stadium into the mountain. Spinda was back up a moment later, racing back towards the battle, arms waving crazily in the air. He skidded to a halt and looked up at Gallade. "That was fun! Can we do it again?" Ash face palmed in disbelief.

"What? He is psychotic!"

"Yes he is. That was an interesting choice the way you tried to hit Spinda. You guessed it knew where Gallade was going to aim, so you shifted the attack point to overcome it. Very impressive. But we are not done yet. Spinda, use mega punch!"

"Meet it with brick break!" The two attacks collided and clashed, each straining to overcome the other.

Scott smirked. "A good try, time to end this. Use Aura sphere!"

Ash's head snapped up. "What?" But it was too late. Spinda held off brick break with one hand while forming a massive blue sphere in the other. He brought it forward and slammed it into Mega Gallade, sending him to the ground. He tried to get to his feet until a force Palm slammed into his jaw and downed him for good. Spinda started to perform a tap dance in a victory celebration while Ash still looked stunned. "Your Spinda can use aura?"

"Yes. How do you think he knew where Gallade was going to attack? He used aura to predict it. As you can tell he is rather special. Let's see how you handle this."

Ash thought for a moment. He would need to a way to counter Spinda's foretelling. Then he got it. "Go, Absol!" The disaster Pokemon took the field, and glanced at its opponent before taking a step back and looking back at Ash. " _That Scott guy is even more of a walking disaster magnet than you are! I did not even think that was possible!"_

Ashglanced at her. "I need you to use your powers to help take out Spinda. Got it?" She nodded.

"No problem. I can tell it is getting tired. Probability of win is about 70 %."

"Absol, use razor wind!" The white Pokemon leaped up, before sending a slash of air at the opposition.

"Spinda, Protect!" The Panda's paws came up and a shimmering green barrier rose up and took the hit.

"Now Spinda, use supersonic!" The sound attack rocketed towards Absol, who slid to one side, allowing the attack to skid harmlessly past.

"Spinda, fury swipes!" The flash of claws heralded the beginning of the strike. Absol kept dodging, muttering to herself.

"Attack coming from the front, now the back, 60% chance of a hit if I move right so go left, 80% chance of a hit if I go forward so go back, a-" She dropped flat on the ground to avoid a brick break before continuing. "Ahah! I got it. Ash, I know where he is going now!" Ash smiled.

"Great! Now Absol, night slash! The attack hit home as Spinda tried to dodge and sent him stumbling away. "Now use Will-O-Wisp!" This attack connected as well, leaving him with a nasty burn.

"Now Spinda! We must end this quickly! Giga Impact!" Scott roared the name of the powerful normal move to the skies.

* * *

The frontier brains watched in shock. Brandon shook his head. "I have not seen Scott this passionate in a long time. Ash is good for him. He is forcing Scott to use most of his power."

The others nodded, too caught up in the match to be distracted.

* * *

"Absol, body slam! Meet him head on!" The two Pokemon charged each other, one glowing white, the other shrouded in purple light. Everyone held their breath as the collision seemed imminent. Then Spinda tripped on a small pebble and fell on its face. It raised its right hand and gave a thumbs up towards Absol before the hand flopped weakly back to the ground. It did not move. Absol pulled up abruptly to avoid running into him. Ash blinked at the anti-climatic ending.

"Ummmmmmm. What now?" The referee answered the question by holding both hands up and counting aloud. "One! Two! Three! Four! Five! Six! Seven!" Everyone in the stadium roared the numbers with him. "Eight! Nine! Ten!" The referee pulled out a small bell and gave it a rap, the noise echoing throughout the stadium. "Spinda is unable to battle! Absol wins!"

Scott shook his head in incredulity, returning Spinda. "No one has defeated Spinda since I was a boy. That was truly impressive. But the show must go on! Froslass, to battle!" The snow ghost Pokemon appeared on the field, took a look at her opponent and rounded on Scott.

"You promised me cuties!"

Scott hesitated and did not meet the angry pokemons eyes. "I don't remember promising that. Just... Heavily implying it. And possibly signing a contract."

"He had that Pikachu, he was cute! I could have taken him!"

Absol tentatively raised a paw. "I am cute."

Froslass took a look at her and sniffed. "You? You are not cute. You are cool and awesome."

Absol blinked. "Thanks. I think?"

Froslass crossed her arms and looked away, refusing to fight.

"Helloooo! Froslass! If you fight, I will get you Klondike bars! I am resorting to outright bribery here!" Froslass looked at him. "Real Klondike bars? None of that Turkish delight?"

Scott nodded vigorously. "Yes. Besides, everyone hates Turkish delight!"

Froslass took a determined stance. "Right. This just got real serious."

Behind her Scott grumbled. "This just got real expensive."

"Alright, we will start thing off! Use night slash!"

Froslass leaned to one side and the attack went right past her. "Use hail!"

The froslass raised her hands to heaven and clouds covered the sky. She then vanished from the battlefield. Absol scanned the clouds, trying to detect where she was hiding. A cry from her trainer helped give her a warning. "Behind you!" Absol hurled her self out of the way, narrowly dodging a nasty ice beam attack. "Mega horn!" Absol took the chance and rushed the Froslass before she got away. The powerful bug move slammed into her, but she levitated away from the ground and back into the slate gray clouds. Ash cursed to himself as he watched hail slowly sap Absol's health. He has to figure out a way to stop her. Then it hit him. It was so obvious. Make it so she can't hide in the clouds. "Absol, thunderbolt at the sky!" The bolt of electricity cracked the clouds and lit them up. There was a brief flash of light in the clouds and a screech as Froslass was clearly hit. She drifted downwards, and the look in her eyes promised pain. Ash gulped. "Absol, dig!" The normal and dark type quickly dug a hole and went down it.

Scott smirked. "Froslass, after it!" Everyone watched in surprise as Froslass phased through the ground after her. Ash panicked and called out an attack. "Night Slash!"

An answering call came from the other side of the field. "Ice punch!" The two powerful attacks in such an enclosed space caused a small Explosion. When the smoke cleared, Absol and Froslass face each other, both still standing though beaten up. Scott then decided that all was indeed fair in love, war, and Pokemon battles.

"Froslass, I have something important to tell you."

"Yes?"

"This is actually true and not at all a made up deperate lie to get you to win. Listen carefully." She leaned in as he whispered. "He stole your last Klondike bar."

You could see the fire and destruction appear in her eyes. "Theif! Fire! Murder! My poor Klondike bar!" She roared her anger to all who were watching and unleashed the most devastating ice move in existence on the spot. Absol had just enough time to think she had been framed when he was pounded by what felt like a train, but was really an overkill of sheer cold. She felt almost nothing of the one hit KO. Ash rubbed his head wearily as he recalled Absol.

"Got any other crazy Pokemon I need to watch out for?"

At the silence from Scott, Ash looked closer. "Oh god. You do, don't you?"

"..."

"I was afraid of that. Oh well. Time for the final two rounds. That means I can call on an old friend- and one of my two strongest."

"Why do you only have five pokeballs on you?"

"That is a good question Scott. The reason is she hates being in one. So I obliged her. Go, Latias!" At the mention of the legendary, the crowd gasped. The girl Spencer had noticed before stood up, took a running start, and dove over the railing, heading for the ground below. Those who saw the jump screamed, she seemed suicidal. Then they saw the girl transform into the red and white eon dragon before pulling up and doing a flyby of the crowd before hovering over the field in front of Ash. The final set of battles had begun.

 **I wanted to end it here, and call the next chapter "The scuffle of legends!" Then I didn't want to torture whoever hits the cliffy (and myself) with this next chapter. I am in a good mood, so I made a compromise. Two chapters continuously! So here goes!**

 **The Scuffle of Legends!**

Latias crouched and prepared for the fight. She may be a legendary and her opponent may be weary, but she is a ghost and ice type, giving her a double type advantage. She must stay alert. The referee raised his flags as the crowd still buzzed with excitement. "This is a battle between Latias and Froslass! Let the battle begin!"

"Froslass, shadow ball!"

"Use dragon breath." The two attacks collided and blocked each other. Here is where the advantage Annabel mentioned earlier came into play. Ash had spent good portions of time with Annabel and Latias, and the pair of them, along with his natural aura ability, had given him the ability to understand pokespeech. It had taken a good amount of time, but it was so, so worth it. Time to start his plan. He turned to Pikachu. "Ready?" Pikachu nodded and hopped up to the edge of the box. Ash would tell Pikachu what was needed and Pikachu would tell Latias what to do. This way, Scott could not tell what he was about to do. "Right." He told Pikachu. "Start off with dragon pulse." Pikachu's speech sounded to the untrained ear something like this. "Pi Pi Kachu Pika! Pika Pikachu!" A dragon pulse rocketed towards Froslass.

"Use shadow ball again." The two attacks again cancelled each other out. "Use dragon claw!"

"Block it with ice punch!" The two physical attacks connected and the two Pokemon strained, each trying to overpower the other. Frost started to spread over the dragon claw, and Ash thought fast. "Knock it back and finish this match with Steel wing." Latias out more power behind her strike and forced Froslass back before speeding forward and slamming into it with gleaming wings. Froslass got off a blizzard but Latias powered through it and body slammed her into the ground before flying off a little distance and turning around. Froslass was completely out of it. The judge raised his flags again. "Froslass is unable to battle, Latias wins." The crowd started to cheer again, seeing the power of a legendary, taking out a strong Pokemon with only one good hit. Scott returned his Froslass and looked at the hovering eon dragon. "Apparently I need to step up my game Ash. Good job. You have got me down to my last one. Ever wonder why Brandon does not have the complete set?"

"Huh?"

"Of regi's. He has the three right, ever wonder where the fourth was? He is right here! Go, my strongest of them all!" He tossed the pokeball in the air, and out came an awe-inspiring sight. The Pokemon filled half the arena. It was huge, mostly white with what looked like green and yellow ridges on its shoulders. It had no head, and two long arms with three fingers each. Regigigas. The stadium was silent for a moment, before the cheers redoubled.

Up in the box the elite brains were having thoughts of their own. Most were along the lines of "where did he get it? And how?" Brandon's was different. He was a little irritated. The Regi's were supposed to be his specialty, not Scott's!

Ash decided to forgo using Pikachu and just use telepathy. It was riskier, but faster, and he needed all the reaction time he could get. Regigigas may look slow, but he could move very quickly if he wanted. "Alright Latias, we need to try to stay at a distance. Fly around and use dragon pulse." She took to the skies and it rained blasts of dragon energy that day. Yet after the barrage finished, Regigigas was still standing, and looked barely hurt. Ash gritted his teeth, Latias may be strong, but that Regigigas was in a completely different level. "Regigigas, ice beam!"

Latias had to go into a dive to avoid the blast of icy energy, before coming back up. Ash frowned, noticing her wings were slightly frozen from the blizzard she had been hit with earlier. "Use recover, and then mist ball!" Latias glowed and recovered her health, become using her signature move. It did some damage, more than the dragon pulse, and it seemed to make him mad.

"Alright Regigigas! Use lock on and then Hyper beam!" Regigigas rooms in before unleashing a stupendous amount of energy towards Latias. She tried to evade it by outflyibg it, but it followed wherever she went. It caught up with her and knocked her spinning towards Regigigas. Into the range of his massive arms

"Ice punch!" The super effective punch, delivered by a Pokemon as powerful as Regigigas, in addition to the hyper beam was all she could handle. Ash was now down to just one Pokemon, and Regigigas still looked fresh. The crowd went silent as they realized Latias had been defeated with only two attacks. That was not good. Ash's hand clenched as he considered the power of the behemoth in front of him. He took a deep breath.

"Scott, remember the final test needed to become a Battle Brain? My final pokemon is the one that I caught. An old friend, and a trusted companion. Regigigas may be strong, but let's see how he does when you fight against victory itself! Go, 'Tini!" A shiny Victini appeared on his shoulder, opposite the one being used by Pikachu, and floated towards the battlefield. It was abnormally colored, snow white except for the ears, which were a brilliant red. Its eyes seemed too big for its head, and were sky blue.

The crowd went wild, and the announcer went crazy. "This is incredible! We have now seen the third legendary used in this final culmination match! Aaron has chosen Victini, the embodiment of victory itself!" The announcer saw quickly that the referee was still to awestruck to begin the match, so he took it upon himself. "Victini vs Regigigas, match begin!"

"Regigigas, use rest and hyper beam continuously as needed. I trust your judgement!"

"Victini, will-o-wisp, then searing shot!" Victini's attack so could not fail to hit Regigigas, it was literally impossible to miss something of that size. For the next few minutes, it became a very dangerous game of tag for Victini, who could not afford to be hit. On the other hand, her attacks were not doing enough to capatalize on the sleeping giant during rest. As he was about to go back to sleep, Aaron got an idea. "Victini, spam future sight behind him!" Victini did as ordered as Regigigas went back to sleep for the fifth time. He had just woken up when it seemed like the entire side of the stadium had exploded. Victini had overdone it so much that Regigigas was forced to take several steps forward to retain its balence. Ash smiled, his plan had worked. This was the beginning of the end. "Use psychic to trip it!" It looked like his feet ran into an obstruction as the victory pokemon's blue eyes lit up. "Now pound it into the ground with your ultimate move, use V-Blast full power!"

"Regigigas use protect quick!" Too late. The resulting blast blinded everyone I the stadium and lit up the county. When the smoke cleared, Regigigas had gotten back to its feet. Victini faced him, looking tired and panting. She slipped down to one knee and the crowd leaned forward, anxious to see if she would go down. She didn't. At least not first. With a ear splitting creak and a groan, the mighty tower of continents slowly toppled over backwards and hit the ground with an eaniurmous thud. Silence filled the area. The ref, seeing Victini close to fainting, wrapped up the fight. "Regigigas is unable to continue! That means trainer Aaron Kario and Victini are the winners!"

Ash rushed into the field and scooped Victini into his arms. "Great job 'Tini. You won." Victini smiled and flashed the victory sign before falling asleep and resting. Fans used the field and the hosts brought out the prize and pulled Ash up onto the podium. Nobody noticed as Scott quietly slipped away. Except for one person. Scott had left the arena when he was cornered in a hallway by Brandon. The Pyramid King stared him down before asking a one word question. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Don't give me that Scott. We both know you were holding back and let him win. So I will ask again. Why?"

"He needed to win more than I did. He pushed me to my limit, and is a worthy winner. Besides, he would do better with the reward than I would. It stills brings attanrtion to the battle frontier. Don't tell him I was holding back alright? To him, that would invalidate the whole thing."

Brandon looked at him for a moment before nodding. "All right. I won't. On the condition that you never throw the match again, alright?"

Scott held out his hand and the two shook. "Deal."

 **Cookies to whoever is the first to guess why I picked the name Aaron Kario gets a shoutout.**


	6. Chapter 7 Life advice from a veteran

**Is it even worth putting references in my stories anymore? No one tries to guess them… If anyone feels like attempting to guess the reason behind Ash's alias, be my guest, I will reveal it within a chapter or so. It is not that hard, something to do with a movie… I was thinking of having Ash's dad involved in the story, but am undecided. I came up with a rather unique take on it I think. I have not seen anyone else take this approach. Oh, one more thing. I have gotten a nasty flame or two via PM's, saying my stories are horrible, which is why no one reviews much. I have dealt with it, but it still makes me wonder, are my stories really that bad? I personally think my stories are eh, not great but not horrible either. As long as even one person bothers to read and enjoy my writing, I will not, as the flame put it, "Cease and desist from posting stories, and immediately delete all current stories"**

Ash collapsed back into the seat aboard the plane, mentally exhausted. It had taken forever to escape the mass of fans and paparazzi after the ceremony. Now he could unwind and relax, and just have fun with the other frontier brains. Since becoming a battle brain, he had learned that the battle frontier treated each other more as family than as anything else. They always went en masse whenever one received an invitation to a prestigious event, or would receive an award. That was what helped make them such a tight knit group.

Tucker plopped down in the seat next to him and put his feet up on the shoulders of the chair in front of him. "Have fun against Scott?"

Ash snorted. "Do you even have to ask? I loved it! Tad of a nasty surprise seeing him in the finals like that though. I had no idea he would participate. I had no idea he even owned any Pokémon for that matter!"

Tucker laughed. "Get used to it. Scott loves to surprise us. He only battles rarely though. I said it once, and I will say it again. He has not been that passionate in a long time. Nice job with your last one. I assume you tripped him before forcing him into the ground?" Ash nodded. "Good idea Ash. It is just so heavy and unwieldy it is hard to get back up. That reminds me. Have you thought about contacting your old companions again?"

Ash held up a pokegear. "Thought and debated about it. I decided not to. First, there is no telling how they would react. Second…" Ash shook his head. "I did a little digging on them. What has happened to Misty, May and Dawn has been disturbing. Dawn got really upset at the other two. Apparently she was jealous as well of Latias, she just did a better job hiding it. The three have kind of banded together, like a misery club or something. Anyway, I do not know if it is self-hate, regret, whatever, but they have all become bitter. They have closed themselves off from the outside world to a large extent. They are taking out their emotions on everyone, and everything around them. Just last week, Misty crushed a trainer in a gym battle. It was his first battle, and he was absolutely destroyed. He had a fire starter." Tucker winced in sympathy. "That is not all. She sent the starter to the critical ward at the Pokémon center, and mocked him on his way out. He was emotionally traumatized. I called in some favors and got Surge to help him, I guess I kinda felt responsible. Anyway, Surge helped get him back on his feet, and then the two of them crushed Misty in the next fight. Which is something. Brock seems to have had enough of them, he returned to his gym, so he is a possibility. Max did something similar. He left his sister and has started training and battling on his own. He is definitely salvageable. Trip and Barry are out of the question. I have not been able to find anything on Iris and Cilan however."

"Whoa, whoa, back up!" Tucker waved his hands in front of him desperately. "Bring the Rapidash back to the hitching post! _Surge_ helped him? We are talking about the gym leader Surge aren't we?"

Ash nodded. "I was nearby, so I got him to help and then watched. He was actually the perfect person for the job."

"How so?"

"You see, the story goes like this…"

(begin flashback)

* * *

 _How had this happened? I had just gotten crushed fighting the cerulean gym. It was supposed to be one of the easier gyms. If Cyndaquil had gotten this badly hurt here, I stood no chance against the other gyms. I was a horrible trainer. I buried my face in my hands. I was sitting on a cliff overlooking the water, just outside the city. Then a loud voice woke me out of my pity party._

 _"GET UP YOU WIMP!" I wheeled around, and saw a massive man behind me. I recognized him instantly. Lt. Surge._

 _"Who are you to talk? I just got beaten really badly. My cyndaquil is in critical condition right now because of me! And from what I have heard, you are nothing but a bully! You have sent dozens of Pokémon to the ER yourself! The league should ban you and Misty!" I turned back to the water, determined to ignore him. Then he did something I was not expecting. He heaved a large sigh and sat down next to me._

 _"Listen kid. My methods, and me for that matter, are not perfect. I admit it. I have gotten reprimanded before for it. The reason I am so harsh is because I have seen the bad side of the world." He laughed lightly. "I am a soldier kid. I have seen horrible things, things worse than you could imagine. Part of the reason I am this way is my past in the war. I was soft and foolish, as well as cocky. That is a dangerous combination. Because of my incompetence, Wattson was badly hurt. He recovered, but I have felt guilty ever since. That is just an example of a bad thing I have seen in my life. And another bad thing I have seen is people like you, who beat a person or two and think you are on top of the world, and they are experts. My gym is usually third in line. Misty and Brock are usually beaten. I try to puncture their ego before it becomes too big, which is harmful further down the road. You will not win every battle, and if you are you are not challenging yourself. But if you just give up, then that is even worse." He put a hand on my shoulder and made me turn to look him in the eye. "You are thinking of throwing in the towel. Don't. How do you know you will lose to the other gyms if you don't even try? You always have a coin flip, a 50/50 shot at winning or failing when you get out there, but there is a 100% chance of nothing happening if you do nothing."_

 _I stared up at him listening carefully, before dropping my gaze. "My performance today was still horrible." I argued._

 _Lt. Surge grasped my shoulder tighter. "You made mistakes. Everyone does. Lance does. I do. It is no secret that I prefer evolved Pokémon, but as a young man-" He glanced at where Ash was hidden. "Showed me a while ago, it might not be the best decision to evolve raichu as fast as I did. He used a method of beating me I had never thought about. Your biggest mistake is being too predictable." He removed his hand and I looked at him. "You will not win by just going attack, attack, attack, throw her for a loop! Use strategy and tactics she is not expecting. So, am I going to see you with all that confidence you had before your battle training for her, or do I need to go back to calling you baby?"_

 _I gave a small smile. "As soon as my Pokémon are ready to go, you can expect to see me training to take her down!"_

 _"That is the spirit! I expect you to beat her to a pulp." He heaved himself to his feet and held out a hand. "And I will help. What is your name son?"_

 _I hesitated for a moment before grasping his hand and letting him help me up. "Jimmy. Jimmy Gold."_

* * *

(End flashback)

"Wow. Who knew that Surge could be so… Philosophical?"

"I know what you mean. He did better than I expected. He and Jimmy trained hard together and swept Misty when he came back for a rematch. Because of that talk, he continued his career. He then became one of the only three people to beat me as a frontier brain about a year later. He really has taken Surge's advice to heart, and based his entire strategy around it."

"So besides him, who were the other two?"

"Paul and Jimmy both help out around my facility, they are two. The third person asked to be kept secret. Before you ask, I do not know why." As he finished speaking the plane started its landing procedure on the decadent to Altomare. After they landed, Ash and Pikachu were the first out the cabin door, inhaling the fresh air before turning and looking at their pride and joy, their own battle frontier facility. Footsteps sounded, heralding the arrival of at least two people. Tracy was the first, clutching his sketchpad to his chest.

"Hi Ash! That was a great match! Congratulations on your win, your official phone has been ringing off the hook. Oh, you will not be happy about this, but as your PR man, I have to warn you that you have another meeting later today with some of the newspapers."

Ash groaned. "Thank you Tracy. But we need to leave this evening for the Wallace cup. It has been expanded vastly and covers more of the five regions, and Annabel has been asked to participate as a judge. We are all going to support her. Is there any way I can get out of it?" Tracy flipped though a few papers before casting a sideways glance at his companion.

"Well maybe…"

Paul groaned. "Let me guess. I can fill in, right?" Tracy nodded. "Fine. But on the condition that I get to battle Brandon after the cup. I finally was able to mega evolve my Pokémon and I think I can beat him."

Brandon poked his head up at this. "I thought to mega evolve you needed a strong bond of friendship? So how is that possible for you?"

Paul looked down at his feet, letting one foot scuff on the ground. "I may have... Listened to Ash a little bit and change my style slightly?" He offered, sounding uncertain and wary.

Brandon clapped him on the back. "Well good! You needed to loosen up a bit in your training, Pokemon will do more with encouragement and friendship than under fear of punishment. And as long as you enable Ash to come, I will gladly battle you on the return trip. Sound good?"

Paul nodded and shook his hand. "Sounds great sir. I look forward to it. Anyone want some ice cream?"

He quickly received affirmative answers from most of the people present. He led the way to the freezer, looked inside, and froze before looking at Ash. "Ash, what kind of Ice cream did you buy?" Ash shrugged.

"Vanilla, why?"

"You know that I like chocolate."

"Too bad, sucks for you. Since I bought it I think that I get to decide. Besides, I picked strawberry which you like as well."

Paul collapsed to his knees and raised his hands as if to protect himself dramatically. "Nooooooo! Anything but strawberry!" He declaimed to the amusement of the others. That was when Jimmy burst through the doors and raced towards the crowd before skidding to a stop. "Ash! Come quickly!"

 **I think Jimmy Gold is the name of the trainer from the Legend of Thunder. If I am wrong, sorry, but that was who I was trying to portray. Yes, Paul and Jimmy are friends with Ash and act as his helpers and referees, sort of like, I think it was Marron, does for Annabel. I think I saw that somewhere**.


	7. Chapter 8

**Yes, I know that some people do not act in this chapter like they are supposed to, but I explain my reasoning at the end. Again, I as author am making this an official change to the storyline. I was unclear in an earlier AN, I needed Ash to have a crack team, but he will have lots of other Pokemon he uses as well. This includes the Pokemon he has already caught In the anime plus whatever you guys want. So leave your wish list! All my stories and chapters will eventually be revised and uploaded. I will give a heads up before I do. Consider all my current chapters the rough versions that I need to see written before I could make any changes. In the beginning of this chapter, anyone who played HG and SS will know the character. Oh, and I do have a plot past the tourney as well, foreshadowing will start to occur soon. In three... Two... One...**

Elsewhere from our heroes

* * *

 **The previous night...**

It was a awful night. Between the howling wind and the freezing sleet, let alone the snow he was trudging through, he was having the worst night he could remember in several years. But if he succeeded in his mission it would all be worth it. He was forced to the side to dodge a Donphan that used rollout, snarling as it knocked out his Pokemon. He recalled it angrily and turned to his last one, his oldest possession and his strongest. It had been this way during the entire trek up the mountain, wild Pokemon had been attacking him, trying to hold him back. He had fought them off, but had lost almost his entire team in the process. He could only guess what they were guarding. He shrugged. Not like it mattered to him, the only thing of any importance was the size of his paycheck at the end of this mission. He knew he was approaching the top of Mount Silver, so he looked around. He spotted what he had been searching for and slipped behind the waterfall, going into the cave behind it. The cave was empty, with a calm pool of blue water in the middle. The man grimaced to himself. Now he had to get wet in addition to already freezing. He stripped off his cloak before diving in headfirst. He gasped, the air escaping from his lungs in a massive exhalation. The water was almost freezing, it was more a slush than anything else. He pushed through the pain, searching the bottom blindly with his hands, unable to keep his eyes open due to the cold. His fingers brushed over a rock in the bottom, causing a slight rumble as a passage opened up in the wall. He pulled himself out of the pool and collapsed on the side. His Pokemon hurried to his side, doing the best it could to keep him warm. He counted to ten slowly, and through sheer force of will pulled himself upright and staggered to his feet, being assisted by his Pokemon. He slowly made his way out the opening, being supported on one side. He wandered out the opening, gasping as his wet clothes almost instantly stiffened and froze in the freezing weather. He limped forward up the last five meter high rock wall and saw it. His objective. The small pink piece of... Something... That was on the very top of the highest spur of Mount Silver. He reached down and grabbed it before putting it in the box and handing it to his Pokemon. "Make sure this gets to Team Rocket!" He shouted weakly over the roaring of the wind. His partner looked at him questioningly. "I'll be fine, just go!" It grunted in disbelief, staring at him, obviously weak. "Go!" He shouted one last time before shoving it over the edge and forcing it to fly away. He collapsed to his knees in exhaustion, smiling weakly. He had fulfilled his part of the bargain. As he lost consciousness and sprawled out into the snow, a figure wearing a vest and hat with a pokeball logo stepped forward and looked at the fallen figure.

"..."

"..."

"..."

He made his decision. He reached down and picked him up, easily hoisting him over one shoulder before turning and vanishing into the snow like a wraith.

* * *

 **Present day.**

Jimmy led Ash with the frontier brains in tow out the door and to the runway. The sight that greeted them was a burning plane in ruins. As they stared at the wrecked transport, a balloon in the shape of a meowth's head descended from the sky and landed with a soft bump in front of them. Three familiar figures sprang out of the basket. Ash groaned. "Really guys? You had to ruin the expensive airplane? I hope you had that insured Scott." He addressed the last part to the portly man in the Hawaiian shirt.

"Of course it is insured, but who are the bozos Aaron?"

Jessie decided she was tired of being ignored.

"No need for the name calling Mr. Scott. Or the alias either. We know who he is and we are not on camera yet, so feel free to speak freely. Oh, and sorry for the airplane. We were trying to hit the runway behind it and missed."

The other frontier brains all cocked an eyebrow at Ash, some of them had had previous run ins with team Rocket. He held up his hands.

"Okay, let's try this again. These are Jessie, James and Meowth. They are members of Team Rocket who followed me around to every region I went to, trying to steal Pikachu. They showed up here to try again. How they knew who I was and where I was I still don't know."

He looked at the three with a questioning gaze. "Team Rocket never reveals their secrets."

He shrugged and turned back. "Anywho, they showed up several months after I started living here. But before they could try to steal Pikachu, they had their Pokemon stolen from them. They came to me for help, even though we had a bad history. I was so impressed by their willingness to swallow their pride and beg my assistance for the sake of their friends that I made a deal with them. I would help them recover their Pokemon, and would let them put up a good showing against me to show the boss. In exchange they would tone down the number of their attacks and give me a heads up. They actually spend time preparing for me now. The third time, they almost beat me. They have not gotten that close again, but they still try. Ever since, their careers have gotten better. Right guys?"

The three members nodded. "Right. After James' Arcanine nearly knocked out a legendary, the boss was actually pleased with the information we brought him. We played it off to the boss that we were the only operatives that would stand a chance against him, so we are the only ones he ever sends after the twerp now. After we helped Ash with a few high profile activities that brought good publicity to team rocket, and completing a few missions for the boss, we got our promotions. He thinks we are some of his best members now. He even lets us do whatever we want for the good of team rocket now, unless he personally assigns something to us. We even got some new partners. So right now, we figured it would be a good time to take a break from our beach house and fight you again. That was why we came here, but we accidentally hit the plane, and you know the rest."

Ash blinked. "Wait. You guys have a beach house now? You never told me."

James shrugged. "It never came up."

"Fair enough. Oh, and James, one of your new friends wouldn't happen to be from Kanto, fly and be on fire would it?"

"How did you know?"

"Because I was at your first meeting, remember? Plus it asked me for help in finding you guys. Shall we get started?"

James did a quick head count, frowning as he did. "Hold on a second. You have way too many people here, you got 12 and we only have 2." Meowth leaped up and scratched his face.

"Owww! I mean three. How about we take on three of you and the rest get out of sight? Sound fair?"

Ash frowned. "Would be great, but we are in a bit of a hurry to get to that big contest that Annabel is helping judge. We need to go soon. Are you entering too Jessie?"

"Of course! I will be entering as Jessalina. How about we all go to the contest and fight afterwords?"

"Sounds good." He said aloud and then mumbled under his breath. "Still don't know how we never recognized you."

Jessie still heard it anyway. Suddenly she was in his face, glowering at him. "Sorry. I must have heard wrong. Did you just mean I am not beautiful enough to be remembered? That better not be what you meant."

Ash waved his hands in a placating gesture desperately. "Not what I meant, I swear! You were just too good at disguises for yourself!"

She nodded, satisfied, and stalked away. "Never insult a woman's looks, even in passing."

Ash breathed a sigh of relief. Frontier Brain and trainer he may be, but a woman's wrath was never something to be scorned. "Stupid author and his stupid dialogue." He muttered. "Scott, how long until our new transport gets here?"

"About an hour or so, which gives us plenty of time to finish our ice cream!" And in that happy note the whole group marched inside.

* * *

"Professor Napalm, professor Napalm!" A grunt came running in, carrying a crate in his arms.

"It is Namba, not Napalm!"

The grunt shrugged, not caring. "Master Giovanni sent you this, he orders that you read and fulfill what is written on the note inside."

The good professor opened the crate and took out the note, scanning it. As he did so a dark, sinister smile crossed his face.

"Well, well. So it did exist. You!" He snapped at the grunt. "Go get professor Sebastian over here and hire professor Xerosic, I don't care how much it costs. Swear him to secrecy too while you are at it. Understood?" The grunt saluted.

"Yes professor Mamba!" He darted away as the professor grumbled about his name again, already looking forward to his new project.

 **Right, now to the explanation. I did not want to have TR butting in constantly, and yet... I kinda like the new and improved TR trio in Unova and, to some extant, kalos. They were actually a threat and knew what they were doing. I liked the new side they showed, the capable side. So I made a compromise. I had it so Ash would have a talk with them, pointing out that they were only wasting their lives trying to steal Pikachu, and in exchange for toning down their attempts he would allow them to put up a good showing and impress the boss. They would make it look like they were the only operatives capable of even standing a chance against him, which would look good, as well as not letting any other rockets after him, who would not be as reasonable. As they were no longer fighting each other as much, he has worked with them a few times and he has a kinda-sorta-maybe associates/friends relationship. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

* * *

 **I was about to post this when i noticed something. This is my first story to make it into a community! That is great news! Actually, I am kinda surprised Hero in the Stars was not the first come to think of it. Anyway, here you guys go!**


	8. Chapter 9 Contest part 1

This is part 1 of a double upload.

 **I know, I know, I have been spending a lot of time on this story. Updates will start to diversify. Latias will start to appear more often now. This entire grand contest thing is only here so I can provide perspective on Ash between the time he vanished and the tourney. I will start the tourney section once I pass twenty thousand words. Please guys, review. I have over a thousand views for this story and I do not even have one review per chapter. It is hard to sculpt a new chapter when I have no input. Remember, authors run on reviews. Even if you don't like my story and have recommendations, spend thirty seconds to leave your thoughts.**

"Helllooooo everyone! I am Vivian, and I will be your MC today!" The historic opening line from the famous announcer boomed through the loudspeakers. "We have an amazing panel of judges lined up for you today! First, Mr. Sukizo!" The mentioned man nodded his head.

"Remarkable." The crowd clapped politely in response to his normal one word entry.

"Next we have a Frontier Brain all the way from Kanto! Please welcome, Salon Maiden Annabel!" This was a novelty. The crowd clapped much louder about this. Many of them knew the Battle Frontier by reputation, even if they had never seen a battle brain themselves.

"Finally, raise your hands for-" as she spoke the lights dimmed and a spotlight shine on the judges box. "The reigning champion of Hoenn, the legendary coordinator, Wallace!" The audience rose to their feet as one, and thunderous applause rang out. The clapping only ceased to continue when Wallace waved his hands for silence and took the microphone.

"Thank you! I think I speak for all the judges when I say we are all thrilled to be invited to be your judges today. I am sure we will see many fantastic and brilliant performances tonight! Let the competition begin!" He sat down and the first competitor was called up. As the coordinators took their turns, Annabel sat, impassive, occasionally writing something down. True, most of the performances were pretty but... They were not new ones. There were very few original performances. Being inspired by a combination is one thing, copying it with almost identical moves was something completely different. Having seen many of the same combinations before, she gave the repeats low marks and leaned over towards Wallace, whispering her perspective to him. He nodded, in complete agreement. She perked up a little when she saw it was Dawn's turn, while not a fan, she was interested to see one of the people responsible for what happened to Ash. She was a judge, so she would do her best to stay unbiased, but... What a pity if that negative impression had an impact. (Cue evil smirk)

* * *

Dawn smirked as she strode confidently onto the stage. She was using a true and tried combination. Her fire and ice performance would surely clinch her a spot in the second round. "Mamoswine, quilava! Spotlight!" The two 'balls burst open and released the Pokemon. The gigantic pig and the small fire type contested greatly with each other, and Mamoswine started off as planned, using ice beam and blizzard to create an ice slide and sculpture for Quilava. "Now use flame wheel!" Quilava shot forward and started to shroud itself in flames while zipping around in the slide. The fireball on top of the ice created a nice effect, then Quilava jumped straight up in the air. "Blizzard Mamoswine!" The attack formed a massive hollow ball around Quilava. Quilava started to use flame wheel again, carefully using only a fraction of the normal strength of the attack so as not to melt through the ice. He whipped around and around inside, slightly altering his trajectory every time. His fire lit up the sphere for the inside, and he was traveling so fast that he was a blur. "Finish with earthquake and eruption!" The two attacks ripped the sphere open into a bunch of chunks of ice and Dawn wrapped up her performance by posing with her partners. The crowd ate it up, but the reaction from the judges was less than encouraging. Mr. Sukizo was impassive as always, and Wallace and Annabel both frowned, noticing a major lack of creativity by using the same routine she had done for months. May was next up, throwing out a small cat and a rather large butterfly.

"Beautifly use sunny day! Skitty use blizzard into the air!" The bright sunlight shone through the ice crystals producing a prism like effect. That scored some points with the judges, at last, an original combination.

"Beautifly use silver wind! Skitty, assist!" The scale infused gust of air blew forward, slamming into a almost identical wall coming the other way. Skitty's assist had copied silver wind. "Beautifly use energy ball! Skitty use assist!" The green sphere of energy flew towards the normal type, who held up a paw that was glowing before activating fire spin that wrapped around the ball. "Now Beautifly use psychic to steer the attack in circles!" Beautifly's eyes glowed blue as the energy ball that was now surrounded by a pulsing fire spin was forced into a circle formed above the ground. Skitty jumped through the impromptu hoop before turning and jumping back. "Now break the ball with string shot!" As the ball exploded into a cloud of sparkles she got a good amount of applause from the audience as she walked off. She smirked as she saw Drew taking the stage. "Good luck beating that."

"Don't worry. I fully intend to."

* * *

After intermission Ash walked forward and stood next to James. The lone member of the Team Rocket trio had been invited to the box that Ash and the Frontier Brains currently occupied. "Jessie is up next right?"

The blue haired trainer nodded.

"Yep. She is gonna use Meowth in a sort of comedy routine, or that is what I heard. Should be interesting. Where is Pikachu?" Ash glanced around before shrugging.

"No idea. But I am sure he is fine." The pair returned their gaze to the stage as the contest resumed.

* * *

Jessalina strode onto the stage but drew only one pokeball. "Go!" The brief flash of light blinded the audience for a moment before it dimmed, allowing the crowd to see two Pokemon that had appeared seemingly from the lone 'ball. Meowth took a position behind Wobbafet, out of Jessalina's line of sight. Pretending to be exasperated. Jessalina stomped her foot angrily. "Meowth! Where are you? We need to do our rehearsal for the contest. We finally got the empty contest hall, so there is no stage fright for you to use as an excuse." This got some laughs from the crowd, as a few of the quicker witted spectators understood what was going on.

"Wobba Wobbafet."

"What's that Wobbafet? Meowth is hiding behind you? Thanks!" She went left, trying to see behind him, but Wobbafet, and by extension Meowth behind him, pivoted in place, keeping Meowth hidden and keeping the front of Wobbafet facing Jessie. This continued for a few more attempts, garnering more laughs as the routine continued. Finally Jessalina seemed to have had enough. She reared back dramatically before delivering a kick at Wobbafet. Wobbafet bent back almost parallel to the ground, before springing back up and clocking Jessalina in the jaw, sending her flying. She got back up and charged towards the now revealed cat Pokemon. "Got you!"

Meowth slide to the side and stuck out a paw, tripping Jessalina and sending her to the floor. Then he spoke, startling the crowd. "Da wild Meowth used trip! It super effective!" He skipped around her, tossing coins at her to add insult to injury. His foot got caught as a hand shot out from the prone figure.

"Oh no! I tawt I taw a putty tat!" Jessie declaimed as she raised her head.

"Rut row. The wild Meowth used faint attack!" Meowth faded out of sight, somehow slipping out of the trainers grasp and reappearing on one of the racks of stage lights about fifteen feet up. "Ah. This is perfect. No one around to see this, and that obnoxious trainer can't get me. The very idea of trying to force Pokemon to be showy. Perish the thought!"

Jessie picked Wobbafet up bodily and shoved him up against the wall before climbing on his head. She stood there, perched in a precarious position, arms waving wildly, trying to keep her balance. Then she jumped up.

"Wobbafet use counter!" A slight glow alerted the viewers to the attack, before it bounced Jessie back up into the air, having gained a little height.

"Counter."

"Counter."

"Counter again!" This time she managed to snag Meowth's tail and drag him down with her. Wobbafet slowly reduced the power of his counter, allowing Jessie to come down gently with Meowth on her shoulder before the pair of them bowed. By this point the audience were in hysterics and applauding wildly as the two departed the stage.

* * *

Pikachu had sneaked away during the contest. Sure, some appeals were neat. But why settle for that when you could have as much ketchup as you wanted? He crept into the kitchen, staying out of sight, before opening the fridge that contained the condiments. There he saw a sight that broke his heart. Victini sat on the top shelf, having just finished guzzling the dregs of the final bottle of ketchup. She looked down and saw the electric mouse before tossing him the almost empty bottle and vanishing. Pikachu forced the top off as he tried to lick what little was left out. Of course that was the exact moment when the chef happened to look over and saw the Pokemon in the fridge holding a empty bottle of ketchup with other drained bottles littered on the shelves. The appropriate reaction was obvious. The next few minutes involved a lot of shouting, thrown butcher knives, and frantic shouts about a filthy rat before Pikachu got away and headed back to the box. Victini had returned to Ash's shoulder and gave him a wink as she steadfastly ignored him and concentrated on the appeal. Pikachu heard giggles coming from seemingly empty air nearby and frowned before dismissing it as his imagination.

* * *

Finally there was only one contestant left. Ursula took the stage, thinking carefully. She had seen the judges negative impressions of unoriginal performances and had completely altered her routine on the fly. "Flareon and Leafeon, let's go!" The two eveelutions took the stage and started to run in a giant circle shoulder to shoulder as Ursula ran with them, keeping pace. "Flareon use sunny day! Leafeon use razor leaf!" As the light grew brighter the leaves settled to the floor. They trip kept continuing in the circle before Ursula called out her next move. "Leafeon use magical leaf! Flareon use solarbeam!" The leaves got shot at by an intense beam of sunlight-that missed. Ursula quickly moved into damage control mode. "Flareon, solarbeam again!" This time the attack connected and the leaves brightened in color, almost glowing a much more verdant green than the neighboring razor leaf. Once those attacks drifted to the floor half a circle was now filled in. The coordinator was now halfway around the giant circle that was being traced. "Now Leafeon, use magical leaf! Flareon ember!" The weak fire attack struck the glowing leaves, slightly burning the leaves and cause them to take on a reddish hue. "Now finish with magical leaf one more time! Flareon use icy wind!" The crowd gasped and Ash turned to James.

"I didn't know Flareon could learn that move! It is a fire type right?"

All he got was a puzzled shrug in response. Back on the stage, the ice type moved partially froze the grass attack, causing them to either and grow ice crystals. The coordinator came to a stop at the front of the platform and bowed, her two Pokemon copying her. "Behold, the four seasons!" It was true. The fallen leaves in the four colors formed a circular calendar that clearly showed the difference in the months. She jogged off the stage to half hearted applause, most of the audience was still stunned by the use of an ice move by a fire type. Vivian took to the microphone again.

"Thank you to all the contestants, providing us with an entertaining appeal round! The judges will now determine the top eight contestants to move on the second round! While they decide there will be a ten minute intermission." Ash decided to leave the box to try and mingle with the crowd, seeing if there was anyone he recognized. He approached the judges conference and waited in the background patiently. The three came to a decision and Mr. Sukizo returned to his seat first. Wallace was about to follow him when Annabel caught his arm and pointed. They conversed for a few moments, before they both nodded and made a last second change to the lineup before heading to the judges box.

"And we are back folks! The judges have made their decisions, the order of the contestants will be ordered by rank. The top eight will continue. Here we go!" The first two names flashed on the big screen Ash did not recognize. Then Jessalina's picture was shown, prompting a celebration from Team Rocket. Then Nando, and another unfamiliar name that he vaguely recognized from the Sinnoh grand festival. Then May and Drew took up the next two spots, and then there was a pause. Revealed was Ursula. "And that's that folks! These competitors will participate in the battle round! Don't leave your seat, we will be back after a short message from our sponsors!" The judges took this as a cue to stretch their legs before the next stage. The rest of the names were revealed, and apparently Dawn had placed ninth. Ash saw her storming over towards Annabel with a furious look on her face. He followed discreetly, sensing trouble. Dawn made her way to where Annabel was and stood with her hands on her hips. "Change the results." Annabel did not even look up.

"No."

"Change them. I saw the change you convinced Wallace to make. It is your fault I was not ranked higher."

"Your point?" Annabel asked as she yawned and looked away. Dawn shook in fury before reaching out and snatching the Battle Brain's poke gear then dropping it on the floor and crushing it under her heel in anger. That got a reaction. Annabel thrust her chair back and shot to her feet, pulling her hand back. But someone beat her to it.

SLAP!

The loud noise echoed through the arena, drawing everyone's attention to the confrontation. Wallace stood, hand raised, over the cowering girl and his voice raised in outrage. "How dare you! First stealing and then destroying a judge's property because you disagreed with a decision! I can't believe I ever supported you!" May tried to move forward to interfere but was blocked by Annabel.

"Stay out of this. You do not want to get involved." The only response she got was a fist to the jaw and she fell back in pain and disbelief. Ash decided he had had enough. He leaped forward and grabbed May's wrist before twisting it hard to the side suddenly. The snap of breaking bone was clearly audible as her wrist shattered. She screamed in pain as security guards descended on the pair of interlopers before arresting them and taking them to the nearest jail. The three judges huddled for a moment and then went to Vivian and spoke to her for a moment. Vivian nodded and spoke into the mike again.

"In consideration of recent events, May Maple and Dawn Berlitz have both been disqualified. May's slot will be given to the person ranked number ten, congratulations to Zoey from snow point city." As the events sunk in, the auditorium erupted into a hubbub of noise and questions that was finally quieted by constant pleads by the announcer for silence.

"Now after that bit of unpleasantness, the battle round will now begin! The first match will be between Jessalina and Drew! Five minutes in the clock, aaaaaaaand start!" The bars filled up under the names on the screen. Drew went first. "Go, Roselia and Weavile!"

Jessalina smirked through her mask. She had gotten James to lend her his ace for this competition. They had this in the bag.

"Go!" The first Pokemon out was Wobbuffet, but it was the second one that evoked exclamations of disbelief. Hovering under the ceiling was an honest to goodness Moltres. It threw its head back and cawed to the sky. "Moltres, take on Roselia."

Drew gritted his teeth. There really was not much he could do.

"Weavile, knock out Wobbafet and help Roselia!"

(Switching to Pokemon speech here. Just understand that the audience cannot understand them.)

"Right." The Weavile looked at his opponent. "Let's see how much you can take. X-Scissor!" He shot forward and delivered a strike to Wobbuffet, who returned the favor with twice the pain before grinning. "I prefer my scissors straight thanks."

"Icy wind!"

Wobbuffet shivered enthusiastically. "That was so cool!"

"Shadow claw!" He slashed at Wobbuffet who took the attack and sent it right back.

"Good try. And that's nothing to Sneazel at."

"Shut up! Night slash!" He lunged forward, desperate to stop the bad puns. Meanwhile, on the other side of the field...

Moltres looked at its opponent and cocked an eyebrow. "You do realize you are screwed right?" The Roselia gulped.

"Uhhhh... I surrender?"

"Is that even allowed?"

"No clue. Wait-I have an idea. Hit me with your weakest attack." Moltres obliged by tapping Roselia lightly on the head. Roselia promptly and dramatically collapsed, faking unconsciousness. A loud buzzing noise sounded and Roselia image was covered with a large red X.

"Roselia is unable to continue! That is the second fastest knockout in contest history with nine seconds!"

Jessalina frowned. "What is the fastest?"

"Two seconds. A strong Camerupt on an ice field. First move eruption." Jessalina winced.

"Okay. Ouch. Time to finish this. Moltres, air to ground ballistic blob attack!"

Ash blinked on hearing the command and looked at James. "Pardon?"

"You'll see."

Weavile used another X-scissor attack, cutting at Wobbuffet who bounded back.

"That was a pretty good cut. Best thing since sliced bread."

"Shut up!" The Weavile screamed. "Shadow claw."

"Oh, about that. Bye."

The Weavile blinked, his attack ceasing as he came to a stop.

"That... Wasn't a pun." Wobbuffet grinned impudently as Moltres scooped him up in its claws before performing a front flip and hurling the psychic type forward.

"Giga impact!"

The Weavile blinked.

"Pardon? Can you even learn that move?"

Wobbuffet shrugged as best he could when traveling like a missile. "Nighty night." There was a massive collision as the speedy Wobbafet slammed into Weavile, sending him into the wall across the ring. He was clearly knocked out.

"And there you have it folks! Jessalina just completely humiliated Drew! She will be moving on to the semifinals!"

 **A long chapter deserves a long AN so here we go. I know Flareon cannot learn that move, but I needed it used. Deal with it. I thought Wallace rejecting Dawn like that would have the biggest impact. Allow me to make myself clear. I am not a fan of Ursula, but I felt that the judges should give credit to originality. In this case, it was enough to negate the small mistake with the missed solarbeam. Of course, first impressions do matter as well... Plus it jibes nicely with what I had planned. Namely, Ash would have been willing to try to forgive and forget at this point. That is, until he saw what they had become. Also I thought that May's routine was always iffy. You are willing to bet on a random move like assist? No thanks. Oh, and Jessalina getting a bit of revenge for "the twerp" by humiliating Drew.**


	9. Chapter 10 Contest part 2

This is part two of a double upload.

 **No more legendaries will be a part of Ash's team, three is already slightly unfair. Not that he will not encounter them and fight alongside them, he just will not own them. Pity. If he was too OP he would have Shaymin. You may notice a size and cuteness trend. Oh, note the careful word choice. The key word here is _LEGENDARY_** **. Think Unova. Wink wink nudge nudge.**

The first round of the competition had ended. The final four was composed of Jessalina, Nando, Zoey, and Ursula. Ash wandered outside to spend some time with his Pokemon to unwind while they waited for the competition to continue. In the end he basically decided to throw a ball with them. Latias was staying cloaked and was not participating, and with her out of the running, the only Pokemon that could fly, 'Tini, was dominating the competition. As she flew up to catch the ball it was snatched away and seemed to hover in midair. Ash frowned. "Wha-?" He never finished his sentence, seeing a playful pink kitten with a long tail flying around. Suddenly she vanished and reappeared in his face.

" _Can I come with you_?" Ash stumbled back in reflex and fell to the ground as Mew had a giggling fit. He got back his feet and stared for a moment.

"Mew..." He shook his head. "It would be great to catch you. But it wouldn't feel right, especially when I already have two legends. Three would be unfair to everyone. Not that you are not unique and incredible, because you are, I just don't feel like making a decision on this at the moment." Mew frowned before nodded reluctantly and teleporting the ball back to Ash's belt and joining the other Pokemon waiting for the next throw. He reached for the ball when he was interrupted. "Aaron! The next round is about to start." It was Spencer who was calling him and Ash looked at him but continued finishing the throw. But he made an error. He grabbed a empty pokeball that was next to the play ball on his belt and threw that. He only realized his mistake when he realized the weight was different and turned back, watching the course of the capsule. From Mew's point of view this was too good an opportunity to pass up. She shot forward squealing happily before touching the button and being sucked in. The pokeball dinged, signifying a successful capture. Mew burst back out and circled Ash, chattering happily. " _Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you! I promise I will be good!"_ Ash glanced at Pikachu.

"What just happened buddy?" His response was a dumbstruck shrug from his starter, who looked as lost as Ash did. There was a brief flash of light as Mewtwo teleported in and looked around.

" _Mew? Mew? Where are you_?"

Mew flew towards him and grabbed him in a hug. " _Hi Mew Mew! I got caught, so you owe me!"_ Ash blinked and looked suspiciously at Mewtwo.

"Wait a minute... Were the two of you betting on me?"

Mewtwo looked slightly uncomfortable. " _No_?"

"Why do I not believe you?"

" _Now Mew, teleport to the contest hall_!" Ash had just enough time to consider that as abuse of the power of a legendary to escape awkward questions before he flashed out of his position and reappeared in the box. He leaned forward in exasperation and rubbed his eyes wearily.

"Porygon?" He called out. "Was I dreaming?" His pokedex beeped and detached from his belt before having a multicolored body form around the pokedex into the shape of a porygon.

" _For better or worse, no. You did, albeit accidentally, capture Mew. If you are not convinced I am sure Pikachu would be more than happy to shock you to- " _

"No, no, no need for that." Ash waved his hands dismissing the suggestion as the yellow mouse grew an evil grin. "I believe you. It's just... It's Mew. The ancestor of all Pokemon. Unlike other legendaries, there is only one Mew. Mew actually once tried to create another Mew for company, but failed. The result was a little purple blob with eyes, that became known as Ditto." He sighed again. "My point is, Mew is one of the rarest, possibly the rarest if you discount Arceus, Pokemon in the world. I always dreamed of catching something like that one day. But now that it really happened... I can't believe it. What does Mew see in me that makes me worthy to be her trainer? What if I fail her? What if I mess up? I just am not sure I can handle this." He felt a weight on his head and glanced up to see a pink tail. Mew gazed down at him, serious for a change.

" _Listen up. I choose you for several reasons, not least because you were willing to give your life to save me and the tree of beginning. This self doubt only proves that you were the right choice. Don't let it stop you. Besides, if you mess up, I can always slap some sense into you._ " She giggled, the more bubbly side of her coming through. " _Or Mew Mew will._ " Mewtwo sighed.

"Mew, please stop. You know I don't like that name."

 _"I don't care. I enjoy it_."

Latias dropped her invisibility and grabbed him by the shoulders before pulling him into a hug. "And if they don't, I will. Don't worry about it, we are here for you. He returned the hug gratefully.

"Alright, you all win. I surrender. Thanks Mew, I will strive to be worthy of your choice." Jimmy took this inopportune moment to poke his head through the door.

"Hey Ash, Scott wants to talk for a moment." He trailed off before looking around the room and back to Ash. "What are you, catnip for legendaries? You know what, forget it. I don't want to know. Just come back to the box when you are ready." He left and Mew flew in orbit around his head.

"Sounds about right. Half the legendaries in this room are cats so... Oh, Mew, can you change into something else? I would rather not be swarmed by the crowd when they see you." Mew shifted into an Eevee and jumped into his arms.

" _That better_?"

"Perfect."

Mewtwo grabbed Ash's shoulder as he was about to leave. "Mew, would you mind leaving for a moment? I am sure Pikachu would love to play tag with you."

" _Yay, tag! You're it Pikachu!_ " She tagged him on the ear and ran out the door with the electric type in hot pursuit.

"Good. Now, I trust you, so I will only say this once." The lights in the room dimmed and Mewtwo seemed to grow taller and loom over him.(e.g. Gandalf and Bilbo in the LOTR movie) "Mew is like a sister to me. If you hurt her, no matter where you are, I _will_ hunt you down. Is that understood?" Ash stood defiantly, not backing down.

"I would never hurt any of my Pokemon. If I did, I expect you to show up and beat some sense into me. Got it?" Mewtwo smirked and held out a hand. The two shook and then Mewtwo teleported away to places unknown. As he headed back to the other Frontier Brains he shook his head in disbelief. "What a day this has been."

* * *

In the interests of time, both semifinal matches would be held simultaneously. The style of battle was up to the competitors to decide. Zoey stood, waiting for the match to start. The Snowpoint trainer looked at her opponent, Nando, and smiled. "Single battle?" She got an answering nod. "Then let's do this, and give 'em a show!"

"Agreed. Kricketune lets go!"

"Take the stage Glameow!"

* * *

Jessalina stood confidently. She had steamrolled through her first match and was pumped up and ready to go. She actually did not plan on using Moltres for this match. After all, criminal she may be, be she did believe, to a point, in fair play. Plus it would be a nice curve ball to throw her opponent off balance. "Come on, Vaporeon and Wartortle!" Ursula called out her Pokemon first. Fine by Jessie. Didn't change her plans a bit.

"Tauros lets go!" A pair of Tauros borrowed from the twerp appeared on the stage next to each other. Ursula blinked.

"Where is Moltres?"

"Resting. I caught you off guard didn't I? Knew you would go for the type advantage, so let's see what you got. Tauros, full authorization!"

"What does that mean?"

"It's quite simple. There around thirty of them, and the moves sets are all different. I just made sure they had the move and the ability to take you down, anything else is gravy."

(Pokemon speech.)

"What are we?" One of the bulls bellowed. They then took turns answering with a litany of descriptions.

"Annoyed!"

"Ticked off!"

"Angry!"

"Upset!"

"Furious!"

"Outraged!"

"Badass! 400 pounds of awesome coming right at you!" The two surrounded themselves in electricity and used wild charge, hurtling down the length of the floor. Vaporeon and Wartortle used surf to try and stop the attack, but the Tauros just charged _up_ the face of the wave and down the other side, sending the water types flying.

"What!" Yelled Ursula indignantly. "How is that possibly fair?" Jessie shrugged.

"Don't know and don't care. Not my problem."

"Fine. Be that way. Wartortle, Vaporeon! Use rain dance!" Miniature clouds appeared under the ceiling and water started to fall. For about three seconds. Then it was replaced by hailstones falling from the sky. "Oh come on! They know Hail?"

Jessie shrugged again. "Huh. Didn't know they could do that. I told you, completely random. I have no idea what they can do. It's like playing the lottery." The horns of the bulls glowed blue for a moment before a storm front of ice swept across the intervening distance, sending Wartortle and Vaporeon into the wall. When it cleared, they were both out of it. "How about that? They know Sheer Cold. I think i just hit the jackpot."

Ursula stared, jaw practically hanging on the floor before bringing herself back to reality. "You... You just..." Lost for words, she returned her water types and stomped off the stage in a huff. Jessie stared after her.

"Wonder what her problem is?"

* * *

"Kricketune! Use razor leaf to disrupt the blizzard!" The sharp leaves shot forward and interrupted the blizzard, forming a massive pile of frozen leaves. Nando smiled. "Thanks for that. Kricketune, use bug buzz to send the leaves at Glameow!" The wave of sound scooped up the leaves and hurled them at the Glameow, who was forced to cower to avoid taking a hit to the eyes.

"No! Glameow!"

"Kricketune finish this with X-scissor!" The bug raced forward and drew back the glowing blades- only to stop when he saw nothing in front of him.

Zoey smirked. "A good match Nando. But it ends here. Natural Gift!" Kricketune looked up to see Glameow suspended in the air above him. He had just enough time to wonder what natural gift did before being doused in flames. Glameow landed primly as the slightly charred bug hit the ground, with swirls for eyes. Zoey was quickly declared the winner as Nando walked forward to congratulate her.

"Let me guess. Substitute while I was blinded by the Blizzard before using a rawst berry for Natural Gift."

"Got it in one. That was a great match Nando. Thank you." They shook hands before Nando returned his Kricketune and left to take it to the Pokemon center.

Vivian came back on the mic. "And that concludes our semifinals! The finals will be between Jessalina and Zoey of Snowpoint City!"

 **There is still a bit of the real Ash deep inside, the one who marvels at the world around him. Enjoy it, 'cause it won't be around for long. After this Ash/Aaron will get... Colder. More closed off to the outside world with the exception of his friends and when he is on camera. Ash will have quite the posse with him when he enters the tourney. Gonna have around a dozen people following him around, and they all know who he really is. Oh, what _does_ Ash teach his Tauros? Some of the minor characters from the series will show up in the tourney. E.G, Paul, Zoey, Jimmy, etc. Slight reminder, Ash will not use legendaries, and even if he does, rarely all of them in most matches. HE IS NOT TOBIAS! Next up, the ending to the contest and a ****little side quest for Ash and the Brains. Then, the tourney. This is also now my longest story.**


	10. Chapter 11 Problems and the first death

"Welcome to the contest finals! After an amazing group of performances by coordinators from around the five regions here in Sinnoh, we have whittled the field down to two! On the red side of the field is Jessalina, and on the green side is Zoey of Snowpoint City! Please choose your pokemon!"

"Joltik, Seviper let's go!" The small bug and the poison snake appeared on Jessie's side of the field.

"Glameow, Flareon!" The two felines both landed in a crouched position, ready to fight.

"Five minutes on the clock, and let's begin!" "Flareon flamethrower, Glameow swift!"

"Seviper use haze to hide! Joltik climb on Seviper." The smokescreen went as planned, hiding half the battlefield in a veil of smoke that camouflaged Jessie's Pokemon perfectly. "Now Joltik, signal beam! Sludge bomb Seviper!"

"Counter with swift and fire blast!" The two sets of attacks collided, neither giving an inch. "Glameow fury swipes! Flareon give covering fire!" The claws on the paws of the cat glowed as she used her tail to help launch her forward.

"Meet fury swipes with iron tail! Thunderbolt Joltik!" The fury swipes clashed against Seviper's iron tail, but it became clear while Glameow had more skill, Seviper had sheer strength, overpowering the fury swipes and sending the cat back. The thunderbolt meet the stream of fire and cancelled each other out, as they were evenly matched. Zoey's points took a slight hit. "Joltik, electroweb! Seviper keep Glameow out of the way!" Seviper lunged forward and kept Glameow busy, leaving Joltik a clear shot.

"Flareon, knock it back with flamethrower!" The fire hit the electrified web- and passed straight through it. "Flareon get away!" The feline desperately tried to hurl itself to one side but to no avail, as the electric attack wrapped around its legs and sent it sprawling in the dirt.

"Joltik protect." A shimmering shield of green energy blocked the flamethrower, leaving the Joltik without a scratch. "Great! Now Seviper, use poison tail on Flareon!"

"Stop it Glameow! Flareon try to get free!"

"Oh no you don't. Joltik use agility." Joltik suddenly disappeared from it's place and blurred to a stop in front of the cat charging to the aid of Flareon. "Perfect. Now use screech!" The ear splitting noise rang throughout the stadium, forcing Glameow to cease its attack in favor of curling in a ball. Most of the audience put their hand over their ears. Seviper clearly was affected, just not the extant of the other two, as he finished his attack and sent Flareon flying. Zoey's points dropped further. "Good job. Now Joltik use Discharge! Seviper, iron tail in the ground!" The poison snake thrust its glowing tail in the ground, acting as a lightning rod and avoiding taking any damage.

"Glameow! You have to protect Flareon! Use iron Tail to knock the attack away!" Glameow leaped in front of its teammate and twirled its tail frantically, knocking away most of the voltage. Which promptly turned into a problem as one of the stay bolts of electricity streaked towards the judge's booth.

"Look out!" Ash roared, leaping to his feet. Annabel promptly acted, tackling Mr. Sukizo and Wallace out of the way and taking the hit herself. She was outlined in electricity as she gritted her teeth from the pain, before the attack ceased and she slumped forward. The whole stadium was dumbstruck for a moment, before a hubbub broke out. Ash and the other Frontier brains with James and Meowth in tow rushed the stage and the judges booth as the on-call nurse Joy sprinted forward to check on the Salon Maiden. After a quick examination, she had a stretcher wheeled over as she strapped the girl in before rushing her to the Pokemon center. The frontier brains formed an escort, keeping the reporters out of the way before regathering in the anteroom of the Pokemon center while Nurse Joy scanned Annabel to check for any permanent injuries. She came back a few minutes later, a worried look on her face. She addressed Scott as the others listened in.

"I don't know what is wrong. My scans showed no problems, but she should have woken up by now. The electricity should have knocked her out for a few minutes, so she should have recovered. Right now, there is nothing more I can do." A loud explosion sounded from the back of the Pokemon center and the smell of smoke wafted into the room. Everyone raced to the back to see what was the problem. What they saw was odd. The ruins of the machine used to scan Annabel lay in pieces on the floor. Annabel herself seemed to be in the center of a massive construct of psychic energy which vaguely resembled a human, curled up in a ball. She was also clearly unconscious still, although she was mumbling and cringing in her sleep. Greta's jaw dropped. "What is that thing?" At the sound of her voice the giant turned in her direction and threw a punch, which traveled at a surprisingly fast clip, towards the bunch of spectators. The Brains scattered and the attack slammed into the ground, leaving a small crater. An ear splitting scream ripped from Annabel's throat as she started to writhe, seemingly in pain.

"Please, stop! It hurts! Leave me alone! Not that, please!"

Scott leaped to his feet and ran in front of the behemoth. "Annabel, snap out of it! Wake up!" He desperately pleaded to the girl he treated as a daughter. The monster lashed out blindly and Scott was tackled aside by Brandon at the last second, feeling the blow pass by barely overhead.

"Mew, any idea what is going on?" Ash asked desperately. The pink cat shook her head.

"Not a clue. I can restrain her, but if anything goes wrong, she could be harmed. I might not know the answer, but I know someone who might. Raikou!"

As she shouted the name a hidden pokeball opened in one of Annabel's pockets and a stream of light coalesced to form the legend of thunder a little way off. The electric legendary straightened from a crouch and took in the situation at a glance.

"Drat. Not again. It took us forever last time, and this looks even worse." He muttered. Then he raised his voice. "Try to keep her away from occupied areas, but for pity's sake, don't hurt her. I will be back soon!" He used extreme speed and sprinted away, his last words floating back behind him. Ash exchanged a clueless glance with the other frontier brains before sending out Absol.

"Absol, can you try to lure her into the woods, away from civilization? We can't hurt her." Absol nodded before using snarl to garner attention, then leaping out of the way of a blow and dashing for the forest. The construct fell for the bait, blindly following and swinging at the Pokemon and demolishing the section of the forest they were in. A few minutes later Raikou blurred back into the area and interuppting the dangerous game of tag by skidding to a halt, panting.

"He should be here in a minute, it's a bit of a distance to Canalave city." A ball of darkness started to form nearby before taking shape and slowly melding into the menacing form of a Pokemon. It had a small head with a white fog-like ghostly plume billowing from its head covering one of its bright blue eyes, with the portion on its face resembling hair. It also had a red spiky growth around its neck. It had skinny arms and long black tatters hanging from its shoulders. It has the slight shape of an hourglass figure and appears to be wearing an old, ripped had no legs, but extended stilt-like appendages in their place. Darkrai looked her over before hurling a dark void attack at her, calming her and causing her construct to fall apart. He then rapidly turned to the surprised Brains.

"Don't look so shocked, we legendaries do have a favor system. Anyway, I can't keep her like this for long. Her power is fighting me, and as she is not a Pokemon, any more of my power runs a risk of damage to her. From what I can see, she is having a flashback of some kind and is stuck in a traumatic experience. This is causing her powers to go crazy from desperation, thus resulting in this devastation." He raised his arms, waving to the smashed section of the forest. "The only way to resolve this is to get her out of her nightmare. I cannot force her out, but I can send you in since this qualifies as a nightmare, and thus falls into my domain."

Scott blinked. "So you are saying that you are going to send us into her nightmare? What happens then?"

"Hopefully you fix whatever the problem is and free her. Don't worry about getting hurt, if you are knocked out you should just be stuck in your mind for a little while... I think. I haven't done this before, but I do know the theory."

Scott took a deep breath. "I'm going. She is like a daughter to me."

Ash stepped forward. "And me. I would never forgive myself if I did not help my friend."

Then Tucker. "Count me in. We Brains are a family, and we stick together."

"I'm coming too." Brandon gruffly answered.

One by one the others announced their assent. Darkrai rolled his eyes.

"This is very touching and all, but if we are done playing all friends together, this is actually draining my power to keep her a version of sedated. So if we could get on with it?"

"Right."

"Everyone get in a circle and stay close." Everyone

followed his instructions before Darkrai closed his eyes and concentrated, as a thin black line emitted from him and traced a glowing black outline of a circle around the rescuers. Then there was a snapping sound as a dark dome formed momentarily overhead, before disappearing and letting the Brain's limp bodies slump down to the ground. They were now officially in Annabel's nightmare.

* * *

Agent Sneaker looked up from the television. He hated to miss anything related to Pokemon of this high caliber, but he would never get a better chance. This was the perfect time to conduct a subtle search of some information. He would have to be careful. He already suspected there was a leak somewhere in the International Police. The chief had promised to occupy the other agents while he investigated. The only people who knew were his partner, Looker, and the chief. He slipped off his chair and snuck past the room full of colleagues watching the finals. After traversing headquarters, and out of earshot, he reached the sort to the information room and he opened a pokeball. "Porygon, can you get me in?" The animated body nodded before drifting forward and coming into contact with the lock. Part of Porygon digitized and inserted itself into the lock, before reforming and twisting to the side. The lock opened and he slipped inside, closing the door behind him. The room was massive, dimly lit by one light high up on the ceiling with files everywhere. He sat down at a computer terminal and began to work. First he pulled up background information. Ash Ketchum. Winner of the orange league, consistent top finisher in all entered tournaments. Pokemon... He looked at the top of the list and sighed. "This could take a while." Grimly he browsed through each set of results, intent on finishing this job and possibly revealing an old wrong. Hours passed and his eyes blurred with fatigue. "Alright Porygon. Please get us past the password." It squeaked before digitizing itself complete and entering the computer and bypassed the password completely. He decided to work for a little longer before calling it quits. He tried one last search with keywords. Money. Team Rocket. Trial. He looked at each link, and finally his persistence was rewarded. He sat bolt upright. The similarities were too great to be a coincidence. He threw himself into the work with new found vigor, and at last he found what he had been searching for. He began to tremble. He had been afraid of this. He had his suspicions, and now, they were proved right. The screen flashed for a moment before words scrolled across the screen. **Logic bomb sequence activated. Unauthorized user**. Lines of code flashed on the screen before being erased, one by one. The door opened and shut quietly. He spun and came to his feet, hands balled up in a reflexive movement. "Who's there?" He shouted, sounding more confidant than he really was.

A dark chuckle answered him. "Well well. I'm impressed. No one has gotten as far as you have in years. I admit I underestimated your persistence. I thought you had forgotten about that episode with the... Experiment."

"What are you thinking? That was no experiment. That was a monstrosity!"

"They are the same thing really."

"How did you know I was here?" As he asked the question his mind was racing, searching for a way out of the mess he was in. He remembered only two people knew what he was doing. Looker he trusted with his life, and he was regions away. With a sinking heart he realized what that meant. That left only one person.

"I must say, it is much easier to avoid InterPol if you have inside information. Pity none of your colleagues agree with you and your warnings of spies. Sorry, nothing personal, but you know too much. Mega Persian, take care of him." As the massive white panther stalked towards him the figure in the darkness turned as if to leave before pausing. "Oh, and don't try to scream either. Ever so conveniently, all the other agents seem to have schedules that take them away from here right now." Sneaker cursed mentally, backing away. He knew when he was licked. "Have fun with him." Then the figure exited, with the door closing with a quiet click. The agent locked eyes with the cat, and everything stayed still... Before the frozen tableau exploded into action. Agent Sneaker lunged, throwing himself bodily across the dimly lit room. He knew he was done for. But he could at least make it so that Looker would stand a chance. As claws raked across his back, he stretched out his hand and crushed the power button. The computer shut off, at once trapping Porygon in the computer... And saving and concealing it at the same time. As the blood poured out of his wounds and he felt his life leaving him, he smiled. His sacrifice would not be in vain. Deep inside, he knew that Looker would get to the bottom of this. He always did. He was the highest ranked field agent for a reason. He would set this right.

 **So... That happened. The final is temporarily interrupted. This will have ramifications, let me assure you. Oh, and for the second half... This is important. Central to the rest of the story line actually. Yes, someone died in this chapter. Oh, and remember that stone that was wanted earlier? Here is the first appearance. Still not sure if it is an official mega evolution or not. Oh well. Being an author has its perks.** **According to the manga, Annabel does have Raikou. And since I declared every incoming member of the Frontier must capture a legendary, it fit. The others have legendaries, they are just not used often. Aside from Nolan, the one chosen for Spencer should be the easier to decode. It was mentioned earlier this story. Yes, legendaries can speak. They just choose not to most of the time, and with the quality of people outside of Ash and co around, can you really blame them? Plus Darkrai does talk a little in The Rise of Darkrai. This was part of the reason I introduced a porygon earlier. He will not play a major role, but will be needed to hack some things. It was either Porygon or Rotom, and Porygon seems better for the job.**


	11. Chapter 12 The Nightmare, Foreshadowing

**Yes, I am heavily inspired by Ashes of the Past. At the time of my starting to write this, it was the only pokemon fanfic I had read and wanted to try to live up to that standard, though I never will. Starting here, this fic goes in a completely different direction, and I am trying to phase out any outside influence as I go.**

The frontier brains all appeared simultaneously, in a lab that was completely absent of any human presence. Test tubes and beakers were everywhere, along with needles and racks of notes of all kinds. The lab was full of scientific equipment. The frontier brains blanched as they realized what had gone on here. In addition to the standard lab tools, there were several... Other things. Nolan went white as he caught sight of what looked like a trough to drain blood away. Greta saw what looked like a mix between a gurney and a straight jacket, clearly meant for restraining someone. Spencer cringed as he saw rack upon rack of used needles and test tubes contained vials of blood stored in a cryogenics freezer. Tubes were scattered intermittently around the room, stretching from floor to ceiling, filled with a light purplish liquid which contained floating objects. A Pidgey with no wings, a Tauros with two heads, and what seemed to be an arm with a skeleton growing out of it. And those were the more palatable sights. The Brains retched as they gazed upon some of the more gruesome scenes and did their best to ignore them. Greta was the first to hear the whimpering and rushed into the darkest corner of the room. Anabel was curled up in a ball, cowering, yet she looked different. She appeared much younger than she really was, as she now looked like a little kid around the age of seven or eight. She shied away when Tucker tried to reach out to her. He drew his hand back hurriedly and tried another approach. "What is wrong Anabel? Tell us, we can help."

"They will be back soon. I can't stand it any more."

"That was about as clear as mud. Scott, do you know what is going on?" The normally happy and upbeat owner of the Battle Frontier looked grim, and the expression did not belong on his face.

"Unfortunately I do. Anabel never told you of her past did she?" At the shaking of heads around the room he nodded in acceptance. "That explains it. You see, when she was little, she was a normal girl with a normal life. Then her parents died and left her alone. With nowhere to go, she had to live with neighbors for a time. Alas, it was not to last. She was captured by Team Rocket for use in experiments, as they needed a young one to try to endow someone with power, thinking that the younger they were the more receptive they would be. Ash, you know what they did to Mewtwo. This was before then, sort of a prequel to see if the idea of cloning Mew and creating a clone with psychic power was even possible."

At the intake of air from around the room he smiled sadly. "I see you understand. She was experimented on as a human lab rat." Scott's hand clenched as he scowled, body trembling in anger as he thought back. "It was horrible what they did to her. They took a perverted pleasure in harming her. Whenever something would go wrong or not go according to plan, she was tortured by being electrocuted. This went on for years. Blaine did whatever he could to alleviate her suffering, but was limited in the scope of his influence. Finally, she started to show signs of psychic power, and plans for a final test were made. They were going to put her in the middle of a herd of rampaging Pokemon. If the experiments had worked she would be able to save herself. If not..." He trailed off, shaking his head in disgust. "Anyway, Blaine managed to contact me in time. I got a strike force together and sprung her out, along with destroying the branch where she was held. She was traumatized after that, and still has mental scarring from her experiences. It took her several years to even start to recover. I took her in, and took care of her for a while. She came into contact with the other brains, was inspired to follow their example, and the rest is history." There was muttering from the frontier brains as the import of what he said started to sink in. "As this is her nightmare, probably triggered by being hit with an electric attack, I would guess we need to either defeat Team Rocket, or get out of this facility, or both to wake her up and end her nightmare. I suggest we try to get out first and take her with us."

"Got it." Nolan pulled out a pokeball and tossed it in the air before catching it on the way down. "They won't get her. They'll have to get through me first."

"And me." Lucy pulled out her belt as well and got ready to summon her friends if needed. Alarms started to blare overhead and throughout the building. "Time to go. Group around Anabel and keep her in the middle. The Rockets will have to beat us before they come anywhere near her. Let's go!" The Brains stampeded out of the room, forming a human shield around the girl in their midst as they ran. The hall they started to run down was absolutely massive with corridors branching off in different directions. Tucker caught a glimpse of Rockets coming down one of them and skidded to a stop. He waved the others on.

"Don't worry about me, I got this! Get Anabel out!" His hands went to his belt and he scooped up two of his pokeballs and released them both at once. "Arcanine, Swampert, go! Flamethrower and Hydro pump!" The attacks streaked out as bursts and raked across the front rank, sending bodies tumbling to the plush, luxurious red carpet. Tucker saw the telltale flashes of red light as some of the quicker thinkers among the Rockets responded to the threat.

"Koffing, poison gas!"

"Arcanine ignite it with Flamethrower!" The fire touched the combustible gas and erupted into a massive fireball, scorching the walls and the ceiling. "Now Swampert, Arcanine, fight back!" Streams of fire and water raced forward and swirled together, mixing as the retaliation raced towards the rockets. Moments before it struck, a pair of slim, small figures jumped in front and took the blast, acting as shields. Tucker scowled as he saw the Vaporeon and Flareon standing side by side, having utilized their abilities to neutralize his attacks. This could get annoying in a hurry.

* * *

The rest of the group continued on, dashing into a hall that was filled with several statues of Persian. A lone figure appeared at the end, already in motion. Ariana smiled grimly at them, with Vileplume and Arbok already on the field.

"Sorry, no can do on letting you leave. Madam Boss has said to capture you at all cost. I intend to carry out her orders to the letter. Sludge Bomb!" Both her Pokemon carried out the order, and the gunk streaked towards the Brains, only to be intercepted by Seviper. Lucy stepped forward, staring down the team rocket executive.

"Keep going. I can handle her poison, none of you can. Seviper, iron tail!" As the snake slithered forward Scott motioned for them to follow him, taking a sharp turn and going in a new direction.

The Pike queen stalked forward, examining her erstwhile opponent carefully. She had heard of Ariana during her crusade against Team Rocket, but had never battled her personally. It seemed she would get her chance, even if this wasn't exactly the most opportune of places to fight, considering the circumstances. The executive raised an eyebrow, looking at the Pokemon currently on the field. "Why do you not call out another? It is two against one."

The Brain took a moment to respond, sizing up the Vileplume and Arbok before answering with a slight sneer in her voice. "Against you? I only need one. Two on one is almost a fair fight for you. Almost."

The Rocket's nostrils flared at the insult before snarling back. "If that's how you want to play it. Your funeral. Double sludge bomb!" The gunk flew forward and clashed into the snake, who didn't move and looked almost bored. Lucy snorted.

"Please. Seviper poison is much more potent than either of those. You will have to get stronger for him to even feel that. Seviper go!" The snake opened his mouth and spewed foul smoke over the field, cloaking him in a deep haze and engaging the acid reflex of Ariana who staggered back retching before visibly stiffening her resolve and taking control of herself.

"Vileplume use petal dance to blow away the smoke!" The leaves circled in a cloud before slashing forward and cutting the smoke cloud to ribbons. "Aha!" Ariana crowded in triumph before issuing further commands. "Pin missile and razor leaf!" The sharp spines and leaves shot towards the revealed snake before contacting-and continuing through without stopping. "What-"

She was startled to hear her opponent laughing at her.

"Your face girl!" Lucy cried, wheezing with laughter. "Please. I didn't get where I am by cheap tricks. Iron tail!" Seviper shot towards the poison types, blindsiding them and sending them into the wall. "Really, double team is one of the oldest tricks on the book. Your going to have to improve if you want to go up against the big guns." Ariana clenched her fists tightly, seeking desperately for a way to defeat this younger woman standing in front of her, yet unable to find one. "Face it. It's over. You lose."

* * *

"There they are! Get them!" Ash sneaked a quick look over his shoulder and saw rocket grunts in pursuit, attempting to chase them down from behind. The floor shook and rumbled, splitting apart and creating a chasm several feet wide. Spencer and Greta were stuck on the same side as the grunts and they grimaced before turning to fight.

"We can take them, get Anabel out of this place and wake her up. We can hold until then." Scott hurriedly nodded and turned while he chivied the rest along, trying to get out as soon as possible.

* * *

"Mr. Goodshow, you asked to see me?"

"Yes, I did. Please inform the public there will be a restructuring and reorganizing of the gyms. Gym leaders may also be replaced if they do not meet my standards."

"But sir! The current system is fine and no Leader has been sacked in over fifty years!"

"Nevertheless, it will happen. Please draft a press release regarding this, I expect it on my desk by nine in the morning tomorrow."

"But... Yes sir." The aide responded in a resigned tone of voice, exiting the office, mind abuzz with the news.


	12. Chapter 13 End of The Nightmare

Greta and Spencer quickly called out their Pokémon. "Hariyama! Shiftree!" The two faced down the attacking rockets calmly. Unfortunately for the rockets, they were at several disadvantages. The corridor was relatively narrow, meaning the grunts could only attack a few at a time, otherwise they would just get in the way. Also, they had the sad problem of facing the two frontier brains in the best physical condition, as well as the hand to hand expert. So while Hariyama and Shiftree kept the attacking Pokémon off their trainers, the pair of Frontier Brains charged into the fray, surprising the grunts, who did not expect their vastly outnumbered foe to attack _them_. Fists flew as the brains gave a good account of themselves, effortlessly taking down the less cautious grunts.

* * *

"Halt!" Nolan rolled his eyes as he stopped jogging forward.

"Keep going guys. I'll handle these jokers. Articuno!" The ice bird descended in front of its friend and looked menacingly at the rockets before using ice beam and freezing the floor, making any pursuit more difficult. "Great! Now use gust to hold them back, but try to avoid critically injuring them!" The legend cried out in acknowledgment before flapping its wings and pushing back the few foolhardy souls that attempted to charge across a sheet of ice _towards_ a legendary. Nolan smiled grimly. Too easy.

* * *

The escaping party had now been cut down to four. Brandon, Scott, Ash, and Anabel. The grunts might not be very skilled, but there were a lot of them, and they were forcing attention. The foursome broke out into a massive hall. At the end was a wide open pair of double doors, with white light shining through them, signifying the way out. "Come on!" Scott shouted. Then several figures stepped in front of the doors.

"Did you really think it would be that easy? Please. This whole fiasco played out exactly the way we thought it would. Now it is just the four of you, and one of you doesn't even have any Pokémon. That does leave the two strongest brains and the owner of the battle frontier though. Pity. I had hoped at least one of you three would be sidetracked by now." This came from the mouth of a tall woman whose face was cast in shadow.

"I don't know who you are, nor do I care, but I will only say this once. Out of the way." Scott had eyes that were as cold as chips of ice right now, fury and rage boiling up inside him.

"No. I am the leader of Team Rocket, but you may call me Madam Boss. I brought some of the strongest members with me just for this occasion. Persian, Meowth, get them." The pair of felines hissed before leaping forward, claws extended.

"Skarmory, Steelix, go!" Attila and Hun called together, their steel types screeching assent to the skies.

Biff and Cassidy called upon their Pokémon to stop them as well, in addition to the other nearby rockets who had formed a blockade. In moments, a wall of Pokémon blocked the way out.

Brandon, Scott, and Ash exchanged predatory glances before smiling. "Anabel, stay behind us, we've got this." He raised his voice so that the various rockets could hear him. "If you are going all out so are we! Go!" The three tossed all their pokeballs in the air at the same time, causing an eruption of sounds from the cacophony of Pokémon. "Run right at them, clear a path! If we can get Anabel out it's over!" The various Regi's took the lead, rumbling forward and causing the ground to shake while drawing all the attention in the room to them. Tyranitar and Aggron ran behind them, an additional ton of juggernauts heading straight towards the defending line. The heavy creatures smashed a hole in the blockade and a full scale brawl ensued. In all the chaos no one noticed Anabel sneaking towards the exit, except for one person.

"Persian stop her! Don't let her escape!" The classy cat raced after the purple haired girl, using pursuit to cut her off. Anabel saw it coming and ran as hard as she could towards the doors. Her heart sank as she saw Persian would beat her to it relatively easily. Then something smashed into her from behind, sending her hurtling forward as her outstretched hand crossed the border of the light. Everything froze for a moment before there was an explosion of light throughout the building, forcing everyone to close their eyes. When the light faded all the brains were standing in the clearing they had departed from, gasping, but unhurt. Anabel sank to her knees, emotions catching up with her. The others crowded around her, making sure she was alright. She brushed grasping hands aside as she staggered to her feet, her breathing starting to steady. She looked at them, friends all, who had gone to rescue her from herself. She saw a shape in the shadow of a tree, blacker than the shadow it cloaked itself in and smiled at it. One blue eye gave a slow wink before fading away, slowly dispersing. She looked at her fellow brains and took a deep breath.

"Thank you, all of you." The others smiled and nodded, relieved that it was over, and a companionable silence fell over the clearing.

"Scott? What do we do after this?" All eyes turned to the source of the query, Ash.

The portly man frowned, pulling sunglasses from somewhere and polishing them on his Hawaiian shirt. "After that? Go home I guess. Relax. Unwind. You all deserve a break. Oh, and train. We can't have you frontier brains slacking off now can we? Also, that tournament is coming up relatively soon. I expect you all to go far." A hand rose from the back of the group and Scott held up a hand.

"And before you ask, I will make it so that none of you will fight each other until at least after the first few stages. After that, it is out of my hands." The hand stayed up. "What?"

"So you mean that the first stages are rigged?"

"Rigged is a word with such heavy implications, I prefer… Heavily influenced. Don't worry; it is just to stop all the major competitors from knocking each other out right from the start. Ensures some heavy weight matches later. Just to give you motivation, I will pay a bounty for every person of note knocked out of the tournament by one of you, based on tiers and individual trainers. See?" Scott held up a poster. On the bottom was a line marked "Individual trainer rewards". Next was "Gym leaders" with an amount of cash next to it. The next line up was "Elite four" and then "Champions".

Greta raised a hand and asked her question before she could be called on. "But what if only one of us fights anyone of note? And do we get rewards for every individual trainer we beat?"

"Yes and no. If one of you beats someone on here…" He waved his hand at the poster. "You all will get that amount. It will make you work together more. Also, the individual trainer section is either for those that I see that are abnormally strong, or who ticked me off." There was devious gleam in his eyes as he said the last phrase. All the brains shuddered. They knew that look. It was why none of them never, _ever_ made Scott mad. It was never worth it in the end.

Nolan was the first to break away. "It's been fun guys, but I have a pair of challengers waiting for me. Feel free to visit, don't be strangers!" He walked over to his plane and took off, waving as he did so.

"I have some ruins that need exploring." Brandon said gruffly as his flying pyramid came into view and he walked towards it.

One by one, the other frontier brains left, saying their goodbyes and then departing. Finally, the only ones left in the clearing were Ash and Scott. The owner of the battle frontier turned to Ash, an unusually serious look on his face. "Ash… Be careful. I have the feeling that not all is as it seems at this tournament, so keep an eye out. I got some warnings about it recently, so if you could bring some help with you that would be appreciated. In pursuit of that, I managed to convince Charles of something. Although he did seem to be acting odd…" Scott shook himself, relegating the memory before continuing. "He has agreed to let me and the champions of the other regions to select two additional trainers each of our choice that we feel could do well. I would prefer to pick Paul and Jimmy. They seem to be better than any of the other trainees the other brains have, plus they work best with you. Tell them to keep up the good work." Scott snapped his fingers and a brief flash of light illuminated the clearing, along with an audible "Crack!" When Ash could see again Scott was gone.

Ash chuckled at that. Scott sure loved his dramatic exits. He trudged over to the plane and sank into thought as his conveyance took off. He had figured out his projected roster for the tourney by the time he landed again. As he stepped off the plane, he unbuckled his belt of pokeballs and held it up to eye level. "We're home guys. Now… To train."

 **Okay. I have a question to ask you guys. I am not really planning on having many romance moments in this story. Actually, while a story in its own right, it is more to set up a different one I had in mind. Sort of a sequel I guess. Anyway, I am not sure whether to keep the pairing as Ash and Latias. The person I had in mind is someone I think none of you will expect, as I have never seen it done before. She hasn't even been introduced in the story yet. Is it fine as is or should I wait to the end of the story and change it?**


	13. Chapter 14 Subterfuge

MOE 14

A silent figure crouched on the roof of the new game corner in Indigo Plateau. After the fiasco the game corner in Celadon had been, the new one was supposedly under "constant and strict surveillance". The figure snorted. As if. She had waltzed right up the front walk and climbed up the front of the building with no one the wiser. She quickly cut a hole in the skylight and lowered herself down on a spun rope. She wouldn't do this for money, no; she was only doing this because an old acquaintance had called in a favor she could not refuse. Without them, she wouldn't be here today. So she had little choice on the matter. After all he had done for her, including keeping the secret of her existence secret, it was the least she could do.

She crept to the side of the room and slunk around the outskirts of the security cameras, sticking to the shadows. She entered one of the casino-like rooms, full of game machines, and walked straight to the back of the room. She moved a painting to the side and pressed a button. Part of the wall retracted back and revealed a keypad. She cracked her fingers. Let's see how many of the usual passwords she remembered. It had been a while since she had done all this cloak and dagger stuff. But then again… why bother? She could do this the easy way. She inserted a finger behind the top and wrenched the keypad out of the wall, allowing her access to the wires behind it. She carefully touched the blue and yellow wires together and heard a slight "click". A recess with a door was revealed that she quickly strode through.

She replaced the keypad and pulled out what looked like a phone. She held it next to her ear as she walked confidently towards the first checkpoint, readying one of her fake I.D. cards. Two ways to avoid question; act like you belong there, and be on a phone call. People were hesitant to interrupt conversations. She breezed through the scanner, holding out her card. It wasn't real, of course, and it wasn't like she could just steal a regulation one. She needed access to some of the more restricted areas back here, and a common key card would not suffice. She had seven cards on her, all with different names to avoid tracing, which would when scanned would register her name and then offload a virus into the scanner system, temporarily disabling it. Hopefully she would be out before they came back online. She would be in trouble if that happened or if she did not have enough cards on her. This particular one claimed her name was Hilda.

She nodded as if in response to something said on the other end of the line, walking by several technicians who had subtly embroidered R's on the sleeves of their uniforms. Enough to escape a causal glance, but not to fool an old hand like herself. She continued her trek, all the scanner stations and I.D. cards blurring together. Umbridge. Then Natalie. Next was Tracie. After that Elizabeth. She was almost caught when she claimed she was Rebecca, with a suspicious guard watching her every move, tapping his chin, trying to remember if he knew of any Rebecca's. Finally Jacqueline. She got past that checkpoint with her final card and finally made it to where she was trying to get to. A small, unmarked room off the main computer hub in the base.

She walked in and glanced around quickly. One technician was in the room, typing furiously, his back to her. She knocked him out with a quick chop to the back of the neck. She pulled a small flask out of her pocket and sloshed some of the alcoholic contents over the man, before putting some inside his mouth for good measure. She left the flask next to him. It made it look like he had been drinking to any of his superiors. They might believe he got knocked out by an intruder, but not likely. At least this way it made it harder to instantly declare an intruder, as a dead body would certainly have done. The room itself was not what she was after, nor was it what was inside. She wanted the passage that led to a room the size of a broom closet. Once inside, she shut the door and whipped a flash drive out of her pocket and jammed it into the lone computer. She stood on guard by the door until the drive showed it had downloaded everything on the computer. She pulled it back out and stored it away. That was the easy part. Now for the escape.

She could not go back through the checkpoints unless they were working again. She had counted on precise timing and was right on schedule. She made it through the first two before things went off the tracks. An admin had beaten her to this particular guard station and was having problems getting through. She could not risk any of the higher-ups seeing her. She made a quick turn, her once short hair now flowing down to mid-back flying out as she pivoted. She took a maintenance tunnel that branched off the main passage. She rejoined the main corridor farther down and made it through without a hitch. As she made her way out through the same way she got in, she dropped an EMP in the middle of the room as she made her escape. This made it possible they would blame the scanner problems and the partially broken keypad on it. Anything to delay pursuit was helpful. As it went off she shook her head. Times had been where she would use real bombs to demolish the bases. Now she tried to avoid killing. She must be getting soft in her "cough" slightly advanced "cough" age.

As she mounted her ticket out, her Pokémon grumbled and nudged her hand before looking down over the edge of the building. She too peeked over, and was met by a strange sight. Snow had fallen relatively recently and had hardened into a fine crust. A purple haired woman with long hair was storming towards the league offices. Her eyes were glowing blue and the snow surrounding her was being whipped out of the way by an unseen force. That meant it could only be one person, Sabrina, gym leader of Saffron City. She was clearly angry, and the watcher found herself wondering about this. Why would a gym leader be up at Indigo Plateau? Alone? At night no less? Her interest piqued, she followed, flying stealthily above. When Sabrina entered the building she dismounted and ran over, staying in the shadows. She crouched, looking through the bottom corner of a window. She could see, but not hear, so she took steps to remedy the situation. She pulled out a small pad soaked in honey from a Ziploc bag and attached it to the corner of the window. She gave it a sharp rap with the base of a knife, shattering the glass on the other side. The pad muffled the sound and the honey prevented the glass from falling to the ground. She removed the pad and listened carefully.

Sabrina met in the lobby with an older man, in a suit with gray hair. Mr. Goodshow. Originally they kept their voices low, but as the discussion raged on their voices rose steadily until they were nearly shouting. "But why are you replacing gym leaders? Blaine, Clair, and Winowna have always fulfilled their duties?"

"The reason is unimportant. The fact is they have been removed from their post, end of discussion." The elderly man snarled back. "Besides, why can't you just read my mind to figure it out?" He added in a taunting tone of voice.

The gym leader of Saffron clenched her fists, unwilling to admit defeat. "Your mind is shielded from me. That is why. Now explain yourself!" She lunged forward and grabbed the lapel of his coat, dragging him forward until they were face to face. As she did, the bejeweled pin attached to the top part of his suit fell off, clattering slowly to the floor. Sabrina took one glance at it and her eyes narrowed. "A dark gem…" She mused, thinking out loud. "That's how you blocked me out." Her eyes glowed blue as she used her powers again, and this time she succeeded.

She stumbled back as she read his mind, inadvertently releasing him as she did so. The man brushed himself off coolly, not paying her any attention. She regained her balance and stared him down. "You're not Mr. Goodshow. Where is he Mister President? Or should I say, Petrel, Team Rocket Executive?"

Outside, the watcher's eyes narrowed at this piece of information. She continued her silent spying, this time with renewed interest.

The man straightened, his height increasing as a ditto peeled off of him, reverting him back to his normal appearance. "Well what do you know…? It appears you finally found out. Completely corrupting most of the league wasn't enough of a tip off, I needed to remove gym leaders to get your attention. Interesting. I have been impersonating Goodshow for years and no one caught on. Unfortunately for you, I cannot allow you to spread the word. Umbreon, Hypno, Espeon! Remove her memories!" The dark type materialized near the side of the room, eyes glowing as it negated Sabrina's power before the other two locked her in place. Hypno started to move its pendulum as Sabrina screwed her eyes shut to avoid looking at it. She gritted her teeth as the glow around her grew even brighter as she fought to break free. Her features started writhing, in clear pain.

The watcher outside could hold herself back no longer. She made a hand motion and leaped out of the way. A high powered hydro pump streaked through the window, shattering it, before slamming into the trio of Pokémon, who were blasted into the far wall. Sabrina took advantage of the lapse in concentration the attack forced and teleported away, though it was clearly harder for her than normal. The observer chucked a smoke bomb into the room before making good her escape. She noticed Sabrina sprawled in the snow a few blocks away, her power clearly not under control again yet. She sighed as she descended to the ground. It seemed she would be leaving with a passenger in tow.

She slung the limp body of the physic over her mount before giving a silent order. The flying Pokémon lifted off and streaked off into the night. As she went she spoke her first words of the night. "Don't worry. I'm taking you somewhere safe to an acquaintance of mine. I would prefer you didn't suddenly regain your powers and physically throw me off, it's kind of a long way down."

Sabrina cast her a wry glance. It was really all she could do, as she was still unable to move much on her own. "Mind swearing by Arceus? Someone once told me to always get a solemn oath."

The figure smiled. "Guilty as charged. I have used that loophole before myself. If it makes you feel any better, I swear I am doing this to help you. Happy?" The psychic nodded.

"Very." They fell into a companionable silence as they flew away.

 **The beginning part of this chapter was so fun to write. I enjoy writing this spy stuff, there is just so much potential there. Oh, and who can guess who the intruder was? I left enough clues to figure it out, but you will need to look carefully. I tried to make it a bit of a challenge. She will have an impact in the rest of the plotline, but I will have to identify her by name in a chapter or two. Hopefully one of y'all (if anyone is reading this) will guess before then. Oh, and the removing memories thing can be done by a powerful physic. See Mewtwo wiping hundreds of memories with little effort. If he can do that, surely one dark and two physics can do that to one human, even if it is Sabrina. Might be hard, but doable.**


End file.
